The Red Lady Chronicles
by IAmTheRedLady
Summary: "I...I think you must have me mistaken. I'm just a girl with a vivid imagination." These are the tellings of the Doctor's friend, the Red Lady, and her adventures through time and space.
1. Blood Moon, Part 1

The planet Lupta was large, for the system it was in, though in comparison to the heavenly bodies the human race might be more familiar with, it was only about the size of the fourth planet from Sol, Mars. Unlike the red planet, Lupta was teaming with life. It had bluish green grass and many vast cultural centers. And it was near the capital of these social areas that the Red Lady found herself when she popped in on one of her regular universal explorations. The Time Lords weren't the only ones who could travel through time and space having adventures, after all!

"Now," said the Red Lady to no one in particular, surveying the land around her, for it was a new planet for our heroine to experience. "Where are we? Hmm...I think my best bet would be to walk thataway." She pointed to the big city in the distance, and with a little spring in her step, she started walking in that direction.

When she arrived, the city looked usually decorated. There were posters and banners everywhere, donning red circles. "I wonder what's going on," Red muttered.

She didn't have to wonder for long. As soon as she walked into the city, a welcome droid approached her. "_Welcome, newcomer_," said the droid. "_Is this your first time visiting us_?"

"Yes, actually," said Red. "Could you tell me where I am?"

"_Certainly. You have arrived in the city of Jallup, on the planet Lupta, in solar system 54KB, the Jargis nebula, O-space-_"

"Thank you, that's enough," said Red, chuckling. "What are all the banners for?" she asked, gesturing all around them.

"_That would be for the grand event. Tonight, our planet's moon, Kliplup, will take part in a lunar eclipse which will turn the moon's face completely red. It only happens every 68,000 years, so it is quite literally the sight of a lifetime. The legends call the phenomenon "the blood moon". The first recorded blood moon was in the negative 16th century-_"

"A lunar eclipse?" Red cut it off, sensing that this information droid was the model which was programmed to give any and all information on what it was asked about until it was stopped, and since information droids know just about everything, they could tend to drone on. Red looked up at the sky. "Cool! I've only ever seen one, on Earth, but I was so young, I don't remember. And it's tonight, you said?"

"_Affirmative_."

Red grinned. "Is there any special place I can go to see this spectacle? An observation deck, maybe?"

"_Affirmative. The Luptan Sciences Society is hosting a viewing at the Great Lupta Observatory in the center of the city. If you will just offer your wrist, I can scan your information chip with directions to the laboratory_."

"Uh, but I don't have-"

"That's alright," said a voice, as a chubby teenage boy with short blonde curls, wire rim glasses, and a face covered in brown freckles approached them. "I can take her. I already know the way."

"Uh, yeah," said Red, nodding. "I'll go with him."

"_Very good. Do you require any more assistance_?"

"Nope, that's it. We're all good here," said Red, shooting the bot a double thumbs up.

"_Affirmative. Please enjoy your visit to Jallup, and please come again._" The droid rolled away.

Red laughed as it went. "Thanks, bud. You really helped me out. How'd you know I didn't have one of those chip thingies?"

The kid pointed to the Red Lady's black flats, blue jeans, red blouse, and black leather jacket. "Your clothes. All Luptans wear these uniforms." He tugged at his own clothes in emphasis. He was wearing a long sleeved, lime green shirt under a silver vest with his name stitched on the pocket-_Enis_-and beige slacks. "So you had to be a stranger."

"Do I need to wear a uniform?" Red fretted.

"No," said Enis, laughing. He seemed friendly, easygoing. "We're pretty relaxed around here about that. We all wear the uniform as a show of nationalism; we choose to wear it. But it's not a rule."

"Oh," said Red. "Well, thanks for covering for me."

"No problem. Who are you?"

"I am the Red Lady," said the enigmatic traveler, sticking out her hand to shake.

Enis looked at her hand sideways. Then he stuck his hand out, too, but didn't shake Red's. "I'm Enis Hakenlup."

Red laughed. "I guess you guys don't shake hands on this planet. How do Luptans show greeting?"

"Oh! Like this." Enis stood at attention, hand on his heart, and clicked his heels together, like Dorothy in _The Wizard of Oz_. "High-o!"

Red mimicked him. "High-o!"

"Just like a native," grinned Enis. He gestured for her to follow him. "Come on. The observatory is in the inner city, so we better go catch the metrocart if we want to make it there in time before a lot of people show up. Night falls fast on Lupta."

"Okay." Red and Enis started walking together down the street, occasionally passing other people in similar uniforms to Enis's, but with varying names and colored undershirts. They'd click their heels at Red and call "High-o!"

"High-o!" said Red back. "Boy, your people sure are friendly."

"Visitors on our planet are treated with the highest respect," said Enis. "Luptans pride themselves on being one of the most accommodating races in the galaxy."

"That's a great policy," said Red as they arrived at the metrocart stop. "On my planet, we'd probably just shoot anything with three eyes or blue skin."

Enis looked appalled. "What sort of planet are you from?"

"Earth. In the Milky Way galaxy," said Red. "And yes, it is a barbaric place. But, we're learning. Or will learn. Or have learned. I'm not sure. Timey wimey stuff."

Enis looked confused, but as the metrocart (which looked just like a bus) pulled up, Red changed the subject as she and Enis climbed on.

"So. A lunar eclipse, huh?" the Red Lady asked.

"Oh, yeah!" said Enis, excitedly. "It's gonna be great. There's a whole festival devoted to it. It's a super big deal. And the observatory is the center of it all. My friend, Professor Grenard, has been preparing for this for months."

"Professor Grenard," said Red thoughtfully. "He sounds like an interesting individual. I can't wait to meet him..."

* * *

"Hello?...Oh, no, no, no! I asked for white chrysanthemums, not pink! Oh, what's the use? Everyone will be looking at the stars, not the floral arrangements...yes, fine, pink chrysanthemums will do. But I want a discount!...Yes. Goodbye." Professor Agnor Grenard sighed tiredly as he hung up the phone. He'd been working on this gala for a month, and nothing was going right.

"Oh, hey, Ag," said Shelton, Grenard's supervisor, strolling into the office without knocking. Shelton was about half of the old professor's age. He'd graduated from the Royal Luptan Academy at about twenty-seventh in his class, in a class of fifty nine. Still, he had progressed far at the observatory because Shelton's parents were old friends with the owner. The younger man leered down at his elder underling. "Everything ready for tonight?"

Grenard himself had been the top of his class. He'd studied diligently in school, spared no time for socializing or the like, and had passed his exams with flying colors. His teacher had told him that he expected that he would be the greatest mind Lupta had known for five decades. But now, here he was, sitting in the same old office, doing the same old things he'd been doing for the last fifty years. He was nearing seventy now. He'd gone almost completely bald, and had lost the handsome figure he'd had in his youth. He had no achievements under his belt, no fancy title, not even a wife or descendants. What had happened?

"Oh, yes. I think I have everything arranged. Considering I had no assistance," Grenard added politely. It had actually been Shelton's responsibility to plan the festivities for the evening, but as usual, he had shirked his duties off on the Professor.

"Good man," said Shelton, clapping Grenard on the shoulder. "You know, I'm really glad you're here for all of us. I mean, this is where you belong. Not in a classroom or some laboratory. Right here-" He tapped the desk. "In your office. Filing and things. That's what you're good at."

"Thank you, _sir_," said Grenard, clenching his fists underneath his desk.

"Well, see you tonight, Ag. Oh, hey, do you have that speech I asked you to write for me?"

"Right here, sir," said Grenard, handing Shelton a small stack of index cards.

"Exemplary! Well, like I said, see you later." Shelton crammed the cards in his pocket and started for the door. "I gotta go try on my formal wear for tonight."

The door slammed shut.

Grenard glared at it for a moment, then turned to the left hand drawer of his desk. He pulled out a glittering green gem.

"Don't worry, my lord," he murmured to the jewel. "Tonight, you will be released. Then everyone will respect the talents of Agnor Grenard!"

* * *

It was nearly twilight by the time Enis and the Red Lady arrived in the center of town. Jallup was large, and the metrocart moved slowly. "Well, here it is," said Enis, hopping off the bus and gesturing to the large building they'd stopped in front of. "The Great Lupta Observatory. It's the most famous in the whole solar system."

"And we'll be able to get in to see it?" Red said with surprise.

Enis grinned. He pulled two tickets out of his inner vest pocket. "Professor Grenard gave me these. I'm an intern at the Observatory, so I got them for free!"

"Are you sure you want to waste one of those on me?" Red asked. "Don't you have a friend or someone you'd rather bring along instead?"

Enis looked uncomfortable. "Er, never mind," said Red quickly. "Come on, let's go. We can get a good spot for the viewing."

"Okay," said Enis, looking relieved. He showed the doorman their passes, then led the Red Lady inside.

"It's on the top floor," Enis said. "We can take the elevator...huh. Broken?"

"Guess we'll take the stairs then," said Red, shrugging at the sign taped to the doors of the lift. "Come on."

After a long hike (the observatory had four floors), the two finally made it to the top. "Niiice," said the Red Lady, looking around the grand viewing room. It was made up just like a reception hall, with several tables and banners around the room. There were pink floral arrangements in the middle of each table, and there was flawless china and silverware set up. "Your Professor sure knows how to plan a party," Red commented, looking around.

"Well, he has to," said Enis. "That rat Shelton doesn't do any of the work he's supposed to, so the Professor has to do all the grunt work, while Shelton takes the credit."

"Sounds like this Shelton guy's a real jerk," said Red.

"Yeah," nodded Enis. "But he's the curator. He can do whatever he wants, I guess."

Red looked up at the curved, stone ceiling. "How will we see the eclipse?" Red asked.

"Oh, the ceiling's retractable. They just keep it closed most of the time so that the glass doesn't get soiled or broken."

"Interesting," said Red.

Suddenly, the doors opened, and an older, balding man with large blue eyes, magnified by his wide round spectacles, dressed in a white lab coat over his Luptan uniform, came trundling in. His watery eyes immediately landed on the pair. "Enis! Oh, glory! Is it good to see you! You've saved the boy, m'boy!"

"Professor?" said Enis. "What's up? Oh, this is the Red Lady."

Red stood rigidly, clicking her heels together. "_High-o_!" she pronounced.

The Professor returned the gesture. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Lady. Enis, m'boy, I must ask you for a huge benignity."

"Anything for you, sir," said Enis.

"Capital, m'boy, capital! I know you were looking forward to viewing the blood moon, and that's why I hate to ask this. Some of my servers I have hired for this evening have dropped out unexpectedly. Would you mind terribly filling in? It's not laborious work, and I would of course be willing to pay you." The Professor rubbed his hands together nervously.

"Sure, Professor, no problem," said Enis amicably. The boy seemed to have a kind heart, which the Red Lady admired.

"I'll help too, sir, if you like," Red piped up.

"Really? Would you? Oh, I wouldn't want to impose-"

"Oh, why not," said Red, shrugging. "I'll still get to see the blood moon. Might as well help out a fella in need."

"Oh, thank you, my girl! Both of you! Here." The Professor reached into his pocket and handed them each silver namepins, inscribed with the word "SERVER". "Wear these on your uniforms tonight. Oh, yes, you'll have to have uniforms. I'll go and fetch you some. Excuse me." He hurried out of the room.

"Poor chap. Seems awfully nervous," said Red sympathetically. "Shouldn't he be retired?"

"He doesn't want to be," Enis replied. "This place is his livelihood."

"Poor chap," Red repeated again, shaking her head.

* * *

A few hours later, it was time for the event to start. Enis and the Red Lady waited with the rest of the servers. They were all outfitted with black undershirts, slacks, socks, and shoes, along with the silver vests. Enis pinned his "SERVER" nameplate over the stitched name on his vest, and the Red Lady followed his example, putting hers over her blank pocket. Then she noticed something. "Hey. Enis." She elbowed her new friend. "None of these other guys have pins."

Enis looked around. "Huh. You're right."

"Well, don't you think that's weird?" Red tried to ask, but then the head caterer alerted them that it was time to serve, and Red's question was left unanswered.

As the party went on, Red served the lavish guests food and drink, with a classic Red Lady charmer on her face. She was serving a three legged woman some deviled eggs (at least that's what they looked like), when she noticed something in the wall.

"Hey, Enis," Red called to her new friend who was walking by with an empty tray. "Get a load of this."

"What?" asked Enis.

Red was looking at a hand-sized, circular groove in the wall, where there seemed to be a greenish camera lens peering back out at her. "What is this?"

"Dunno," said Enis, shrugging. "Security camera?"

"Nah. Too low in the wall for logical vantage point. Hmm..." The Red Lady ran a finger around the rim and found a jagged edge, where there were tiny collapsible pincers. "This is some sort of retractable laser beam, I think."

"Does it matter?" Enis said.

Red didn't answer him. She looked around the room. "Look. Over there. The opposite wall. There's another one. And on the sides..." She pointed out the rest of the hidden lasers, placed at regular forty-five degree angles around the cylindrical room. "But they're not just in the walls. Look-this one's angled up slightly..." The Red Lady's eyes followed the potential path of the lens up to a high spot across the hall. Suspended unassumingly was a small, circular mirror, and as she looked around more, she spotted several others. "Why would someone set up this intricate laser-and-mirror scheme?"

"I don't know. Hey, maybe it's a light show. Or a disco party!" Enis shimmied his hips and pointed his finger several times for emphasis, John Travolta style _a la_ Saturday Night Fever.

"Not likely. The blood moon is going to be spectacle enough itself. This is strange-"

The Red Lady's musings were interrupted by the head waiter rushing toward them. "Ex-CUSE me! There's a table over there that's run out of wine, and I don't see either of you two doing anything of importance!"

"Would you call interplanetary detective work important?" Red asked politely.

"Not particularly, no. Just get back to work," said the head waiter huffily, stomping away.

"Come on," said Enis, touching Red's elbow. "We better do what he says."

"Yeah. Okay." Red gave the lens one last suspicious look, then followed after him.

First the pins, now this. Something was going on.

* * *

The party carried on. As the great hour approached, the level of excitement in the room arose. Finally, an important looking man in formal wear, with a buxom blonde woman on his arm walked to the center of the room. "Welcome, welcome, everyone!" he called grandly. "I am Doctor Jaco Shelton, and-where's my podium? Agnor!"

"Er, yes, sir, here it is." Professor Grenard hurried and bumbled through the audience, carrying a clear plastic stand equipped with a microphone and decorated with a large green gem.

_Poor old man_, thought the Red Lady. _Having to carry around heavy items when that toerag is perfectly able-bodied!_ A shared look with Enis showed he felt the same.

"Thanks, Ag. Man, so hard to find good help these days, eh? Alright, back to the booze with you." The crowd laughed as Shelton shooed Grenard away. "Now," he continued, speaking into the mike, "the hour has come. The moon of our fair planet will now be its shadow, blocking it from the light of the sun. Tonight, Kliplup will become a shade of crimson like blood, which is why we call this the 'blood moon'. So now, I ask you all to direct your gaze to the ceiling. Parsons! Unfold the magic for us all!"

Someone in the back flipped a switch, the lights in the room were dimmed, and the opaque roof began to perforate and fold away, exposing the wide sky, and above, the giant Lupta moon.

"Wow!" Red whispered. "That's amazing."

"Look! It's happening!" Shelton cried.

The moon was becoming pastel pink, and turned more toward rose, and then blood, every second. Everyone was watching, their eyes pasted to the sight.

Suddenly, the laser that Red and Enis had been inspecting earlier activated. It sent a strong beam of green light across the room, which rebounded from the mirror, and continued to refract until many tiny beams were scattered around, finally focusing in the middle of the patrons' foreheads. The other seven lasers did so as well. Every person in the room, man, woman, other extraneous genders, scientist, socialite, and server, were struck dumb by the beam, completely immobilized and turned catatonic.

That is, except the Red Lady and Enis. "Hey! What's going on!" the boy exclaimed, poking one of the victims. "Red Lady! They're all...asleep!"

"No, I don't think they're asleep," said Red, twirling around as she tried to observe everyone at once. "I recognize these lasers now. They've been concentrated to where they absorb strong mind energy. Everyone's focus was on one thing-the moon. They were all thinking as a unit, so the laser was able to triangulate on their thought patterns more easily and siphon them out. This was planned."

"But..." Enis pushed through some of the dazed people to reach her. "Where's the energy going?"

"Look..." Red's fingers pointed to one of the beams, then trailed down to the center of the room, where the beams concluded-on the podium. More specifically, the gem in the podium.

"Huh? What's so special about an emerald? Well, except that it's super valuable," Enis said.

"I'm thinking that's no ordinary emerald," said Red, walking toward it. "It must be some kind of psychic crystal. It needs mental energy for something."

"Like what?"

"I don't know," said Red. "But we know who's behind all this."

"We do?"

"Of course we do," said Red, turning around to face Enis. "I should have seen it before. I _did_ see it before. Who's the only two people in the room who aren't under the spell?"

Enis looked around, then back at her. "Us?" he asked, as if it were a trick question.

"Exactly. But we're servers. What makes us different from all the others?" She strode over to one of them standing on the side, as out of it as the rest of the room. She tapped the monogram-_Cappy_-on his silver vest. "The pins." She gestured to the one on her vest. "They're blocking our mental waves, somehow. Someone wanted to spare us. And who gave us the pins? Who set up the podium with the crystal in this exact spot? Who had the know-how, and the opportunity, to set up this entire thing?"

Enis paled. "You don't mean..."

"Very clever, my girl, very clever indeed," said Professor Grenard, stepping through the crowd of statues. "You've intellect beyond your years."

"Why have you done this? What do you need mental energy for? What's the crystal's purpose?" Red asked him.

"Oh, this is not a crystal," said Grenard, plucking the "decoration" from the podium. "Good. Fully charged. It's a prison."

"For what?" the Red Lady inquired.

Professor Grenard gave her an excited smile. "_Megadite_."

Enis gasped. "What's Megadite?" Red asked him.

Enis gulped. "I...I thought he was just a legend."

"What is he?" Red persisted.

Enis took off his glasses, wiped them off on the hem of his shirt, then put them back on, blinking fearfully. "Well, according to Luptan folklore...Megadite was a god of great power and mental energy. Megadite is Luptan for 'mighty head', because he was known to be so smart."

"Yes," said Grenard, staring at the glowing gem in adoration. "And now that his crystal has been fed the psychic energy it needs, Megadite will be freed!"

"Is Megadite...bad?" Red said to Enis.

Enis gulped and nodded.

"I thought so. Otherwise, why would he have needed to be trapped inside a crystal?"

"The people of old were jealous of Megadite's mighty power," Grenard said.

"The legends say that the ancient Luptans were enslaved by Megadite, that he treated them cruelly, even feasted on their young." Enis licked his lips nervously.

Red nodded. "Sounds like a typical all-powerful demigod."

"Is he hurting them?" Enis asked concernedly, looking at the transfixed people.

"No," Red answered him, not taking her eyes off of the Professor. "The mind is always giving off signals. Like a radio. It's just that now someone's actually turned on the set and is listening, so to speak. But he knew that. Just like he knew that wearing these pins would block out our thoughts. Must be made of Gallifreynium, or something like it."

"Gallifreynium?"

"An ore found only on one planet known to the living, known to have temporary defensive psychic properties. And then there's the elevators."

"The elevators?" said Enis in surprise.

"Look around. There's no lights in this room, except for the lasers and the light of the blood moon." The Red Lady gestured to the ever reddening orb in the sky. "These cannons must take up all the power in the building. Professor Grenard marked the lifts as out of order so that no one would be stuck in them when the power went out." She looked at the old man. "Professor Grenard, you're a good man. So why are you doing this?"

Grenard looked angry, but also a bit ashamed. "Because. All my life I've been used. I've never been allowed to succeed. I've always had to stand in others' shadows. But not anymore. Now, I will be recognized for the genius I am!"

"_So be prepared for the coup of the century! Be prepared for the murkiest scam!_" the Red Lady suddenly sang.

The two Luptans looked at her blankly.

"Sorry," said the Red Lady. "Seemed like you were going a bit _Lion King_ there. Anyway...what are you planning to do?"

Professor Grenard looked at the glowing gem in his hand. "With this crystal, I shall absorb Megadite's mighty mental powers and become the most advanced brain in the cosmos. No one will be able to stop me. And everyone will have to respect me!"

"_So BE PREPARED!_ Okay, last time, I swear," said the Red Lady. "Look, Professor, you can't do this. It was wrong for them to treat you this way and I'm truly sorry, but you can't do this! You have no idea what you're meddling with!"

Grenard wasn't listening to her. He was gazing up at the wide moon. "It's the height of the blood moon!" he cried. He held up the crystal. "Now, o mighty one! Bestow upon me the knowledge of the universe!"

In the crimson light, the verdant gem began to glow even more intensely. "It's happening!" Grenard gasped.

"Professor, please, there's still time! You have to listen to me!" Red beseeched. "Absolute power is evil!"

Suddenly a great shaft of light came from the center of the gem and encapsulated the professor.

"What's happening?!" Enis shouted.

"I don't know!" Red cried back, eyes wide open and glued to the elderly man in the white lab coat.

The professor's muscles began to contract, and he started to writhe, his head shaking. Then he threw his head back and howled to the sky. He whirled around and growled at the two of them. The pupils and whites of his eyes had hazed over with incandescent green. _I have risen._


	2. Blood Moon, Part 2

"Ah!" Enis cupped his hands over his ears. "What's that awful noise?!"

"It's the professor," said Red, aghast. "Can't you hear him?"

"What's he saying?" Enis said. Apparently, Grenard was speaking on some psychic frequency only a telepath like the Red Lady could understand. All Enis would be able to hear was loud, ear-splitting static.

"He says 'I have risen'. What does that mean? What does that mean!" Red repeated at the Professor.

_I have consumed this mortal form as my own. For many millennia I was incarcerated inside my prison. But now I have been freed. The whole of existence shall tremble in the shadow of Megadite._

"Oh no," Red whispered.

_And the first blood to be spilt in the new era shall be yours_. Professor Grenard lunged for them.

"Run!" The Red Lady grabbed Enis's arm and hauled him out of there. They raced out of the observation hall and began to descend the flights of stairs.

"But-but what about the people in there?" Enis wheezed as he ran after the Red Lady.

"They'll be fine. Megadite needs them to sustain his life force. For now," the Red Lady added. "However, soon he'll be completely charged, and he'll have sucked the life out of them."

"Then what do we do?" Enis asked.

Red thought for a moment. "I don't know. I hardly know anything about this Megadite. We've gotta make a plan. But first, we have to get out of here!"

The lobby was barren, except for the doorman. "The power's gone out," he said.

"You have to run!" the Red Lady shouted at him. "Call the organized civil force of this planet. There's a monster upstairs!"

The doorman scratched his head. "I beg your pardon?"

"I said there's a-oh, never mind. Come on, Enis!" The Red Lady charged away.

"What about the power?" asked the doorman after them.

This made the Red Lady stop. "Wait. The power...that's it! Yes! Oh, brilliant, me!"

"What?" said Enis.

The Red Lady grinned at him. "Stand back and watch, Enis Hakenlup. I'm about to be clever." Then she turned to the doorman. "Where is the main power unit? The control room?"

"It's over there-but, miss, you're not authorized to go in there!"

"It's alright," said the Red Lady. "I have very good recommendations. I am the Red Lady, also known as the Crimson Witch, the Great Librarian of Time and Space, the Heir of Joseph, and the _viotori in omnibus mundorum_."

"Unless you're the curator or Mr. Gunderson, the chief electrician, you're not allowed!" said the doorman.

The Red Lady sighed. "I'm really sorry about this." She reached up and pressed two fingers to the man's temple. He immediately dropped to the floor, eyes closed.

Enis gawked at her. "You killed him!"

"Of course not! He's only sleeping." The Red Lady bent down and swiped his keys. "Come on, Enis. We've got work to do."

With Enis in tow, the Red Lady ran for the main power room. She opened the cabinet door and looked at all the wires. "So what are we doing?" Enis asked. "Turning off the power?"

"No," mumbled Red, her stormy eyes scanning the cables intensely. "Megadite's still siphoning the guests' brain power. We need to find some way to reroute the power, send it back to its owners. Reverse it somehow..." Suddenly Red stopped. She started chuckling under her breath. "Oh my God. I know exactly what to do!"

Enis was mystified. "What?"

Red turned to grin at him. "I'm going to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"But...neutrons don't have polarity," said Enis slowly. "They're _neutral_. Neutral neutrons."

"I know!" Red laughed harder, leaning against the wall for support.

Enis studied her apprehensively. "You're insane," he said.

Red smiled at him and winked. "Now you're catching on."

"So how do we...reverse the polarity?" Enis asked, following her as she started striding away again.

"We need some sort of sonic device. Do you know if the Professor might have anything like that?"

"Umm...hey, wait, yeah! The Professor once built this sonic spanner. But stupid Doctor Shelton took it from him. I think he was going to try and patent it as his own."

"This Doctor Shelton sounds like a real...never mind," said Red. "Does he still have it?"

"I don't know. Probably, yeah."

"Great! Can you tell me where it is?"

Enis thought hard. "If it's anywhere...it'll probably be in Doctor Shelton's office."

"Great! Let's go find it." Red started for the stairs, but Enis grabbed her hand. "Wait!" he cried. "Megadite's still up there."

"It's okay," said Red. "You saw how I knocked out that doorman back there, right? Look, we'll go upstairs, you'll find the spanner, and I'll protect you."

Enis licked his lips nervously. "Why me?"

"Because you'd know where the spanner is," Red shrugged.

"No, no, I mean...why would you want my help?" Enis asked meekly.

Red wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean. "I dunno...you're here. You're not one of Megadite's drooling idiots at the moment. You know about the building and the staff. You're helpful, smart, nice, need I go on? Or did you forget that there's a malevolent god upstairs preparing to ruin your world and growing stronger every minute?"

Enis looked abashed at the compliments, but he nodded. "Alright. Let's go."

They made one more trip up the stairs (luckily this time Red remembered she could teleport and she made herself and Enis materialize upstairs, which saved some time and energy). Red looked around. "Okay. Go find Shelton's office. I'll cover you. Hurry!"

Enis looked around, then pointed down a hallway. "This way."

They jogged down the hallway. But as they turned a corner, they were met with a snarling, grimacing Professor. _Die._

"Enis, go!" Red blocked the boy while she faced off with the possessed scientist. "Professor Grenard, I don't want to hurt you," she said warningly.

Megadite laughed, slowly and darkly. _Puny girl. Your red blood will paint the altar of my new empire. I will open your head and feast on your brain._

Red felt sickened. "Ew." She grabbed a heavy metal trash can and threw it at the Professor. She was aiming for the stomach, to knock the wind out of him, but intead she struck his head. The Professor fell to the ground, groaning in pain.

"Oops," Red said, biting her lip. Then she ran off after Enis. "That should buy us a little time," she murmured to herself.

Enis was standing by Shelton's door, looking nervous. "Taken care of," Red reported, answering his unasked question. "For now. Let's not dilly dally-what's wrong?"

"The door's locked," said Enis.

Red grasped the handle; the metal disintegrated under her touch, leaving only a circular hole in the wood. "Not anymore."

Enis stared at her in shock. "How did you do that? An-and the thing downstairs with the guard..."

"The guard, a simple telepathy trick-sent a numbing wave through his nerve centers to make him go unconscious momentarily. The doorknob, particle manipulation, psychokinesis on an atomic level, are we gonna witter on all night or save the world?" Red pushed the door open. "Go on. I'll keep watch."

Enis, dumbfoundedly, entered the office. Red stood in the doorway, keeping vigil up and down the corridor as he rifled through the shelves and drawers. "Got it!" Enis exclaimed.

"Okay! Let's go."

There was a loud growl as Professor Grenard came barrelling around the corner, heading straight for them. "Red Lady!" Enis called.

Red calmly grabbed his shoulder and teleported them back downstairs at the power grid. "Give me the device." She took the spanner from him and looked it over.

"Will it work?" Enis asked.

"It should. All it needs is a battery."

"Here. The Professor always has me carry extra." Enis pulled a battery out of his pocket and gave it to her.

"Thanks!" Red snapped in the battery and switched it on. The screen lit up. "Yes!" Red exclaimed, high fiving Enis. "Okay, now we set it to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow-can't believe I just said that-and...we're done! The power is rerouting."

"So Megadite is going back in the crystal?" Enis asked.

"Not yet. We've got to lure the Professor back in the ballroom, where the crystal and the victims are. Come on," said Red, grabbing her young friend's shoulder. "Back upstairs."

"Oh boy," moaned Enis, as they dematerialized.

Red and Enis appeared back in the show room, the moon still beaming bright crimson. "Find the crystal. Mind those people!" Red ordered.

They hunted around the room. Red found the luminescent gem lying by the base of the podium. "Got it!" Red exclaimed. "Look, Enis. It's still glowing. That means Megadite is still tied to it. We're not too late!"

"_GRAAAAAAHHHHH!_" roared the Professor as he came charging in, the doors slamming as they smacked against the wall. He spotted the gem in Red's hands and glowered furiously. _Give me the stone._

"Come and get it, ugly!" Red shouted, aiming to throw the crystal through the glass ceiling. "I'm guessing if this broke, you'd be in pretty big trouble, Megadite. So come on! Take it!"

Growling and snarling, the Professor charged for the girl. Thinking fast, Enis knocked over the podium, causing him to trip and fall, right into the epicenter of the lasers.

Red lunged and landed on the floor next to Professor Grenard, pressing the gem into his chest. With the polarity reversed, the power absorbed from the partygoers was sucked from the crystal back into their proper owners. With an anguished howl, the Professor's mouth opened, and a ghostly green mist was omitted. It flowed back into the gem, and the crystal went dark once more.

As the patrons of the gala came to, they began to look around at each other in confusion. They knew something had happened, just weren't quite sure what.

Professor Grenard was also awakening, his eyes watery blue instead of neon green. He blinked several times, disoriented. He straightened his glasses and looked up at the Red Lady. "Is he gone?" he croaked timidly.

Red exhaled and nodded, looking around the room at the frightened queue. "It's over."

"What the _hell_ happened here?!" snapped Shelton, marching forward, looking at the crowd suspiciously. "Ag, why are you on the floor?! Who turned off the lights?"

"Enis!" whispered Red. She beckoned him over and whispered in his ear.

"Did you have something to do with this?" Shelton questioned the Professor as the old man struggled to his feet. "I'll have your job for this, you old fraud! Pack your office! I want you out of this museum by tomorrow morning! You're through, you hear? You're through! Go take your bags to the rest home, Gramps!"

"No, wait!" exclaimed Enis. "You can't fire him! It wasn't the Professor. It was the blood moon!"

"What are you talking about, you snot nosed punk?" Shelton sneered.

Enis's eyes flickered over to the Red Lady. Red nodded. _Keep going._

"The Professor told me all about it," Enis continued. "If you look too long at the moon while it's in phase, you can go into a trance, even collapse. The Professor thought the glass would protect us, but the red color of the moon hypnotized us all momentarily."

"Red is a powerful color," added the Red Lady, grinning.

Shelton slitted his eyes and looked at Grenard suspiciously. "Is this true?"

"Of course it's true. Professor Grenard knows a great deal about science. He's one of the best minds of this time period. But one wouldn't know it, considering the fact that his work has been _stolen_!" Red's words drew a collective gasp from the crowd.

Red pulled the sonic spanner out of her back pocket. "The Professor was working on this. It's a sonic spanner, a genius all purpose tool, very advanced for its time. But Dr. Shelton here-" She pointed an accusatory finger at the slimy curator. "-pilfered it, intending to patent it in his name, and receive all the prestige for himself!"

Shelton's ears turned red. "How dare you! That was locked up in my office! You had no right-"

"Oh, I had every right to recover stolen property. It was a judicial investigation. The Red Lady, interplanetary detective and righter of wrongs."

"Yeah, that's right, she is," said the head server from the back of the room. "I heard her say it earlier."

"Shelton!" A tall, older man with a curly mustache stepped forward. "Do you have anything to say about this accusation?"

"That's Mr. Teller," Enis whispered to Red. "He owns the museum."

Shelton sputtered, nervously pushing his greasy black hair back. "Sir, I! I-I-I assure you-"

"I assure you, Marion!" barked Mr. Teller.

Red and Enis looked at each other. "Marion?!" they exclaimed simultaneously, and cracked up.

"You're the one that's to clear out their office," ordered Mr. Teller. "You're fired!"

Several security officers grabbed the stammering Shelton by the shoulders and escorted him from the room. The Red Lady and Enis cheered.

"You!" said Mr. Teller, pointing to Professor Grenard. "Pack your things as well."

"Wha-wha-what?" the Professor asked, shocked.

Mr. Teller's stern expression converted to amusement. "Why don't you put them in Shelton's old office instead? It would seem I have need of a new curator."

The Professor was so surprised he couldn't even speak. "Th-th-th-th-th-ank-k-y-you," he managed.

"Yes, yes," said Mr. Teller, waving his hand. "As for the two of you..." He rounded on the two youngsters. "Thank you, for helping to uncover that swindler. I've suspected him of stealing money from the museum for months. Now I have solid evidence to fire him."

"All in a day's work, sir," said Red cheerfully. "'Sides..." She elbowed Enis in the ribs. "Hakenlup here was the real of the day. You couldn't have a better employee."

"Really?" Teller looked at Enis. "How much do you make, m'boy?"

"Nothing, sir," said Enis bashfully. "I'm just an intern."

"Well, that's to stop right now!" Teller declared. Enis gasped. "You're to be fully employed," Teller continued. "With a raise! How does Professor Grenard's personal assistant sound?"

It was Enis's turn to be speechless. Teller laughed good naturedly. "Alright, everyone. Back to the festivities!"

Everyone cheered. Some music played over the loudspeaker, and people began to dance. The Professor, looking dazed, came over to the Red Lady and Enis. "But...I don't understand. The blood moon doesn't hypnotize people. That was Megadite. Why did you lie?"

"It's like I said before, Professor," said the Red Lady. "You're a good man. You just made a mistake. Everyone deserves a second chance. And here it is. Congratulations..." She shook his hand, grinning. "Curator."

"But where did he go? Megadite, I mean?" asked Grenard.

"In here," said Red, holding up the darkened gem. "Locked up in his prison. Back where he belongs. And I plan to take this far far away, where Megadite can never be summoned again."

"You're very wise, Miss," said the Professor. "I should've listened to you. I'm sorry...but there's something else, Red Lady."

"Yes?" Red asked.

"It's my head," said the Professor. "Suddenly, I feel...well..."

"Smarter?" said Red, smiling knowingly.

"Well, yes," said the Professor, mystified.

Red nodded. "I thought that might be a side effect. Megadite left his intellect with you. I imagine you're just about the smartest man in the world now...maybe even of all creation. Put it to good use, Professor Grenard."

Enis and the Professor turned to each other and began talking excitedly. Red smiled to herself, and quietly exited the party.

Downstairs, the doorman was waking up. "Oh, it's you!" he said, getting up to open the door for the Red Lady, now back in her usual clothes. "Power's back on!"

"Yeah, I know. Lucky, huh? Good evening," said Red. The doorman tipped his hat to her as she left.

Red was a good way up the street when she heard a voice calling after her. "Red Lady!"

Red turned around. "Enis! Why aren't you at the party?"

"You...you..." Enis was panting from running after her. "You didn't say goodbye!"

"Oh. Right. Well, goodbye." Red began walking away again, but Enis grabbed her shoulder.

"Wait. Where are you going?" Enis asked her.

Red shrugged. "Wherever the wind takes me, I suppose. Gotta be movin' on, kid. That's me."

"Please stay," said Enis, looking wounded. "I never...I never had a...a friend before."

"Oh, come on," laughed Red.

"No, I mean it!" Enis insisted. "At school, no one likes me. I'm a loser. The only friend I have is Professor Grenard...and you. Don't go. Please?"

Red smiled sadly at him. "I'm sorry. But it's just not what I do. There's things to see, places to go, people to help. It's who I am."

Enis looked disappointed. Then, all of a sudden...

"Enis?"

The boy turned around.

A shrimpish looking girl, with frizzy blonde hair, thick round neon pink glasses, and a pink party dress, was looking at him in awe. She might have looked like Enis's sister had it not been for her extremely bony physique and freckle-free face. "Prunella?" stammered Enis, blushing.

Red silently chucked.

"Hi," Prunella gasped, breathless. "Is it true you saved the day?"

"Oh yeah," Red broke in, playfully punching Enis in the shoulder. "This guy's a hero."

"Wow," whispered Prunella.

Enis swallowed. He turned around and looked at Red. "Well, bye, Red Lady. It's been great."

Red laughed. "Bye, Enis." She turned and began walking away.

"Wait!" Enis called after her. "Will we ever see you again?"

Red thought for a moment...and smiled at him enigmatically. "We'll see."

Enis nodded. Then he took Prunella's hand, and began walking back to the observatory with her.

Red laughed at their retreating backs. Then she grabbed a street lamp, spun around on it once...and vanished. And up above, the blood moon, shining down on the city, faded from crimson to white once again.


	3. Rosy Days, Part 1

***Classic Red Lady story (pre Redvember arc). Also, I do not own _All Creatures Great And Small_, neither the book nor the television show, starring the delightful Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison.**

* * *

"Hello, Doctor," said the Red Lady as the blonde man in cricket gear came into the library. She was reclining on a comfy, overstuffed sofa, a book in her hands.

"Hello, Red Lady," said the Doctor amiably. "I thought you might be in here; the TARDIS informed me of your presence, and since you weren't in the console room pestering me-"

"Hey!"

"-or in the kitchen raiding the fridge-"

"_Hey_!"

"-I assumed you'd be in the library. What are you reading?"

Red held up her book. "_All Creatures Great and Small_ by James Herriot."

"Ah! A classic," the Doctor said.

"Yeah! It's a lot like _Little House in the Big Woods_, but more grownup and British. It makes me almost want to be a vet, but then I remember how gross animals are. Well, except cats. Cats are nice and clean. But anyway..."

"Who's your favorite character so far?"

"Oh, definitely Tristan," said Red. "He's such a little poop, but the poor fella just can't catch a break with his brother!"

"Well, if you've come to a stopping place, I'd like to take you to a joust in the 1300s. Would you like that?"

"Muscular men in clunky armor where one of them might die or be severely injured? Now you're playing my song," said Red with a playful grin as she shut the book and got up from the couch. "Let's go! Say...you wanna race? Your TARDIS versus me? I'll even give ya a head start." She gave the Doctor a smug little grin.

The Doctor snorted. "You're on."

"Okay!"

The Doctor turned and dashed out of the console room. Red, giggling, vanished.

The Doctor, skidding into the console room, hurriedly set his coordinates. "Come on, old girl," he whispered to his ship. "Let's beat her at her own game!"

The TARDIS psychically laughed at him and dematerialized. After a few seconds, it landed.

The Doctor rushed outside and looked around for his little friend. But there was no Red Lady to be found, curiously.

"Excuse me, sir," the Doctor called to a man, a squire, walking by. "Have you seen a young lady with ginger hair and anachronistic red clothing anywhere? Generally has an impish grin, answers to 'the Red Lady'?"

The man looked at him queerly. "No, sir. Can't say that I have."

The Doctor put a finger to his lip, looking around. "Where is she?"

* * *

The Red Lady was slowly coming to. She was lying on her back in soft grass, eyes closed. She could feel small, warm, wet things lapping at her face, neck, arms, and hands. Tongues, she thought. And from the barking, she guessed they belonged to a bunch of dogs.

"Hello? Hey, you alright?"

The Red Lady cracked her eyes open. A familiar golden face was hovering over hers, looking concerned. "Oh, Doctor, it's you. Must've...passed out," the Red Lady murmured, sitting up. She looked around her at all the canines, ranging to small Pomeranian to large Labrador, surrounding her and the Time Lord. "Where'd all these dogs come from?" She held out her hand to an Irish setter to let him sniff it, then scratched him behind the ears. The setter appreciatively licked her face.

The Doctor looked at her as if she'd just grown donkey ears. "Doctor? Who, me? I'm not even a lousy veterinarian, officially. Maybe you meant my brother or James?" The Doctor gave her a sideways glance, as if afraid she'd bumped her head.

"What? Doc, stop acting dumb. Wait, did you get a haircut?" The Red Lady combed her fingers through the Doctor's new, 1940s-esque coiffure inquisitively. "Why would you do that? Your hair's so gorgeous, and it drives the Master crazy! Why do you keep shearing it off?"

The man jumped at the touch, as if surprised at the Red Lady's sudden intimacy. Then, the Red Lady noticed the Doctor was also wearing different clothes-a crisp, light blue dress shirt, khaki-colored slacks, a striped sweater vest, and a dark green tie. Then the Red Lady looked at her surroundings. She realized she was in a backyard of some kind. There was a reasonably sized stone house, where she spotted a face-an elderly woman with mousey brown hair-peering out at them sourly. There was a pigpen, but no pigs. And of course, the pack of dogs, who'd lost interest in the two and were off running after each other, barking and yapping up a storm. Then she realized why she must have passed out.

_I crossed universes-again! But where am I? And why does this man look exactly like the Doctor?_ The resemblance was uncanny. Even though it was shorter and neater, it was the same color of straw as the Doctor's. He had the same potato-shaped face, same pinkish lips, same deep set blue eyes...which Red realized she'd been staring into for some time and quickly looked away.

"I'm sorry. It's just...well, you have this ungodly resemblance to my friend. I was supposed to be meeting him, so naturally I assumed...well, anyway, sorry. What's your name?" the Red Lady asked politely.

The not-Doctor grinned cheerfully-he even had the _same chipped front tooth!_-and said, "I'm Tristan. Tristan Farnon. But you can call me Tris for short."

The Red Lady balked. So _that's_ why she'd gone astray! She was still thinking about that damn book subconsciously, and had ended up in its universe! "But aren't you supposed to have dark hair?" she blurted.

Tris tilted his head confusedly. "Pardon?"

"Never mind," muttered Red, blushing. "Um, could you let me up?" All this time, Tristan had been straddling her body.

"Oh, right! Sorry." He helped her to her feet, but Red, still weak, accidentally capsized and fell into the Doctor lookalike. Red bit her lip embarrassedly and looked up at the boy.

"Er, we'd better get you inside." Was the Red Lady imagining it, or was Tris blushing too? "Did you have a fainting spell or something?" he asked, helping her up to the house.

"Sort of..."

* * *

"Where are you from, Scarlett?" the redheaded Scotsman asked, sipping his tea. (The Red Lady had given them her fake name so she wouldn't look _so_ strange. Well, stranger.) His name was James Herriot, the very man who'd written the book that had gotten the Red Lady into this mess. Or at least, the fictionalized version of him. He looked like he could easily be Amy Pond's father. Or grandfather. He had an easy smile that immediately made anyone feel welcome.

"America. Texas, specifically," the Red Lady answered.

"And how did you end up in our backyard?" the older, heavier version of Tristan asked. He was the older Farnon brother, Siegfried. The book had described him as tall and lean, with light brown hair. But in reality, he looked...well. The Red Lady could only describe Siegfried as "a Cornelius Fudge look-alike". Because that's what he was. All he needed was the lime green bowler hat. He was similar to his brother, though his mien was dulled with age and worry, and he was slightly portly.

The Red Lady gave him a nervous smile. "Let's just say I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and took a _really_ wrong turn."

"And do all Texans dress like that?" Tristan inquired.

"Oh, Tristan, don't be rude," Siegfried scolded.

"It was an innocent question!" Tris said, getting that familiar wounded puppy look on his face that the Red Lady was so attuned to seeing on the Doctor. It was so eerie. They were alike in practically every way. Except that Tristan, to the Red Lady, seemed younger, physically. When the Doctor regenerated, his body was one of about a thirty year old, while Tris was only a few years older than the Red Lady herself. And it made sense, since Tris was in college and Red was a senior in high school. And the Doctor was...well. He was much more mild mannered and old-fashioned, especially considering that he was from the future. Tris, on the other hand, seemed much more relaxed and forward. It was as if he were the Doctor's younger, more deviantly charming younger brother. Not that Red thought Tris was charming or anything.

"What do you mean, dress like that?" Red asked him politely.

"Well, I mean...well...I mean," Tris stammered, gesturing to the Red Lady's whole ensemble.

"I think he was referring to your trousers," said James gently, giving Tris a teasing smile.

"Oh! Right." It was then Red realized she was in no way dressed properly for Yorkshire in the 1940's. Not only was she wearing blue jeans and tennis shoes, her shirt was a little...well. _Low cut_. Some time this past year, the Red Lady's bust had developed rather nicely, and she'd taken to sort of _showing it off_. Not so much as to be improper, but definitely enough to generate intrigue. And why not? She was proud of her body. She didn't look perfect, no, but she was nice enough to look at.

Anyway, her cleavage may be acceptable for the twenty-first century (well, maybe slightly less than acceptable-the Red Lady liked to challenge social expectations), but certainly not for this time period. She couldn't do up her top buttons without calling more attention to the area, so settled on subtly adjusting her shoulder to where it didn't show so much. "Um, yes. You might say so. Then again, I try not to follow conventions."

James and Tris merely smiled (a bit unsure), while Siegfried just raised an eyebrow over his coffee. Behind Red, the wizened old housekeeper, Mrs. Hall, shook her head in contempt. Red's cheeks were living up to her title.

"So where were you supposed to be going?" Siegfried asked.

"Ah..." Oh crap. The Red Lady tried to think of some nearby town they'd mentioned in the book. "Scarborough," she said. Then she got an idea. "I think. Or was it Middlesbrough? I'm not sure, I..." The Red Lady lifted her hand to her head and pretend to have a headache. "I can't remember."

"Oh, you poor old girl," said James sympathetically. "You must've bumped your head."

"Tristan, you dolt, you should've checked for injuries," Siegfried scolded his younger brother.

"Well, she seemed perfectly fine at the time!" Tris protested.

"Yes, and a cow with a clogged teat may look 'perfectly fine' from the outside too! No offense, of course, Miss Hughes," Siegfried added quickly to his houseguest.

"Please, boys, don't fight. I'm perfectly alright. I probably just need to rest, that's all, regain my memory." Red smiled, feigning fighting off pain. She'd probably only need twenty four hours to recharge, then she could teleport back to the Doctor's world again.

"Of course," said Siegfried, eager to make her feel at home. "You may stay here as long as you need. Luckily you're in a house with two doctors and one in training!"

"Well, we're not doctors per se," James clarified. "Veterinarians."

"Yes, but we've still got medical degrees! Still have a basic understanding of the human anatomy, don't we? I assure you, Miss Hughes, you're in very capable hands."

"That's very kind of you, Mister Farnon," said Red, smiling at him.

"Not that kind," Tristan muttered to her. "Probably just worried you'll press charges against us."

"Tristan," Siegfried hissed, glowering at him. "Shut _up_."

"Just reading my paper," said Tris innocently, hiding behind the morning's periodical.

"Ignore him," said Siegfried to Red. "He's very stupid."

"I resent that!" exclaimed Tris, blonde head popping back up from behind his newspaper.

James laughed good-naturedly. "Don't mind them. They do this every morning."

Siegfried finished drinking his coffee and stood up. "Now, I believe I have some runs to make this morning. What are you boys doing on your day off?"

"Tris and I were planning a day at the pond," said James. Then he turned to the Red Lady. "Maybe you could come along with us, Scarlett. It's supposed to be a beautiful day. The fresh air and sunshine might do you some good."

"That'd be great!" said Red cheerfully.

* * *

That afternoon, the three of them pulled up in James's rickety old car (the Red Lady was reminded fondly of Bessie, though this car was dark green and thirty years or so Bessie's elder) to Nugent's Pond with fishing poles and a picnic basket. The boys went fly fishing while the Red Lady took off her shoes and socks, rolled up the legs of her pants, and went wading in the cool water. She took a few steps and wiggled her toes at some fish. She laughed as they darted away, as the pond weeds wrapped around her ankles and tickled her.

Suddenly, something else grabbed her ankle. It was not a pond weed. It felt...like a hand.

The Red Lady froze.

The hand, big, long-fingered, rough, and scaly, with sharp nail like talons, yanked her down, jerking the Red Lady off of her feet and down into the water.

"Aah!" she screamed, but the sound was lost in a large air bubble. She twisted her body frantically, trying to pull out of the mysterious grasp. She just managed to get her head above water and grab a big breath before she was dragged back down.

Further and further, the water getting deeper and darker-just how deep was this pond?!-the Red Lady and her captor tussled. She couldn't see very well, but what she felt was lots and lots of scaly skin, long bony limbs, a long tail whipping about, and a huge head.

_Oh no-losing air-help!_ The Red Lady tried more and more desperately to escape, but the creature was clinging on too tightly.

Suddenly, as human hands grabbed her arm, the monster disappeared, like magic. The Red Lady opened her eyes for a split second just in time to see its silhouette disappearing into the depths of the water. Its shape was dark, yet familiar.

The Red Lady whirled around to see golden tresses swirling around a ovular, young face, attached to a slender body covered in small orange freckles. "Come on!" Tristan gurgled at her, hoisting upward to the surface.

The Red Lady was starting to black out, so Tris had to grab her up to get her to safety. Once on land, he laid out her body on the ground and pumped his hands against her chest. "Come on, Scarlett!" he said again, squeezing her nose and blowing air into her mouth.

He continued the CPR until Red opened her eyes and spat out a lungful of pond water. Red coughed for several more moments, then looked up at Tris and grinned faintly. "Well, here we are again."

"Scarlett, what happened?" Tristan asked her frantically.

"I-I don't know," said the Red Lady, looking at the water. "I was only in about halfway up my shins when something just-attacked me."

"I saw it, I saw it," said Tris, shuddering. "It was awful looking!"

"You did? What did it look like?"

"Well, it was sort of dark green, scaly...well, it looked like a sea monster," Tris said, his blue eyes wide open.

Red carefully sat up. Tris kept one hand on her shoulder blade, one around her wrist. "I think I've seen something like that thing before..." she said, struggling to recall. "But where?"

"But Scarlett, the _water_, the water, it was...well, Nugent's Pond is never that deep! It's only about seven feet in its deepest part! But today it was like it was four times that deep, maybe more!"

"Wait..." Red looked at Tris carefully. "What you're saying, is...there was more water than usual? Almost like the pond was...deeper on the inside?"

Tris nodded.

"But how is that possible?" The Red Lady and Tristan hadn't noticed James standing there as well.

"I don't know," said Red, gazing at the surface of the innocent looking pond, its murky water glimmering in the jolly sunlight. "But something is definitely not right."

Red had thought that she'd be able to leave the next day. But now she knew-she was here for a reason.


	4. Rosy Days, Part 2

"Well, Scarlett," said Tris later. "That's the second strange thing that's happened since you mysteriously showed up here." He sat down next to her on the couch in front of the fireplace. Mrs. Hall had forced them to change as soon as they got home, as they were soaking wet. Red hadn't any other clothes, so she'd loaned her one of her dresses to wear while her clothes were drying.

"There," said Mrs. Hall, after Red had put on the dress. "Now you look like a proper young lady." Red looked embarrassedly at her old lady dress, which seemed old fashioned even for the forties. Not that she cared what anyone-especially _not_ Tristan-thought.

"Yeah," said Red, scooting over to let him sit next to her on the small two seater. "I guess I'm a magnet for weird."

Tris laughed. "You're funny."

"Funny like humorous or funny like peculiar?" Red asked, smiling at him coyly.

Tris thought for a second. "Both...but mostly peculiar." He gave her a crooked grin that the Doctor usually reserved for the Master, raising an eyebrow mischievously.

Red elbowed him, hiding her face at the same time. "Oh, shut up."

"So..." Tris pulled his long legs up to his chin, propping the heels of his sock feet on the couch cushion. He rested his chin on his knees and looked at her. He looked kind of...sweet. "Tell me about where you came from."

"Not much to tell," Red said dismissively.

"Oh, come on, tell me," Tris needled her.

"Well...it's a long story," said Red, exhaling.

Tris shrugged.

"Okay...well, sometimes I hang around with this guy. He's...my best friend. We travel all over. I've known him forever, it feels like." _And for some reason, he looks identical to you. Well, maybe not as laid back or charismatic._ "And I was supposed to be meeting him when I..." Red aimlessly gestured around them.

"And this fella...you and him..."

"Oh! No, never. I mean, he's about the greatest man I've ever known, but he and I have never been like that. It's more like a familial relationship. Besides...well, okay, I'm not _saying_ he doesn't like women, but he's sort of..." Red laid her hand out, palm down, and teetered it back and forth. "Flexible."

"Oh!" Tris looked a little taken aback, but not judgmental. "Well, then."

"Yeah, so. Yeah. Just friends." Red nodded sheepishly, sitting on her hands.

"And there's not...anyone else?" Tris asked. Cautiously, Red noted.

"Nope. No one's that interested in me," Red said, smiling tightly. "I mean, look at me." She laughed, indicating to her body.

"I don't see why. You're pretty," Tris said quickly, then went on to say, "plus, you've got a personality. You can't say that about most dames around here."

"You know, I had you pegged for the kind of guy that favored the pretty and boring girls." _The bimbos_, Red added mentally.

"Well, I mean...okay, I'll admit, most of the gals around here are either pretty OR interesting. James just happened to find one, Helen, that was both, but they're few and far between. Besides, Helen's nice and all, but I'd like someone who's a little more alive, someone who's got that spark..." Tris trailed off when he realized he was spilling his guts to someone he'd only just met.

"No, no, go on, please," said Red, propping her head on her elbow. "I'm listening."

"No, it's stupid," Tris objected.

Red smiled warmly at him and laid her hand on his arm. "Actually...I think it's sweet."

Tris turned bright pink, just like the Doctor did when the Master was teasing or flirting with him, and then the Red Lady remembered who she was talking to and backed off. "I better go," said Red, getting up. "See if I can help Mrs. Hall with dinner or something. Uh...see ya."

"Yeah. See ya." Tris muttered as Red hurried out of the sitting room.

* * *

"That was delicious, thank you, Mrs. Hall," said James, handing the housekeeper his plate.

"Wasn't I, Mr. Herriot," said Mrs. Hall, stacking up the dishes neatly. "Young Miss Hughes did most of the cooking tonight."

"Well, it was the least I could do," the Red Lady said, blushing.

"You cook?" James asked.

"Sure. I've always said, just give me a recipe and I can make anything," said Red.

James chuckled and shook his head. "It's a wonder no one's snapped you up yet. You'll make someone a wonderful housewife someday."

Red's eyes involuntarily flickered over to Tristan. _Oh crap! Did he catch me looking? Not that I was looking._ "Well, I'm not really thinking about that kind of thing just yet," she stammered.

The truth was, the Red Lady didn't want to get married. At least, not yet. Maybe someday. But for now she just wanted to have fun and explore, with the Doctor and the Master. She wasn't ready to settle down and give up the life of adventure right now.

"The older Mister Farnon hasn't returned home yet," said Mrs. Hall, looking out the window.

"Well, then!" Tris said, getting up and turning on the radio. A song with lots of eager violins came on, and Tris grinned at them.

"Oh, Scarlett, you're going to want to watch this," said James, chuckling.

Tristan stood up on his chair and began miming to an invisible orchestra. He waved his arms with the music and pretended to conduct, all the while making silly faces. Red and James cracked up, while Mrs. Hall merely just rolled her eyes and went into the kitchen to wash the dishes.

The piece ended, and Tristan took a bow. Red and James applauded madly. "Thank you, thank you," said Tris. "And now, for my next piece-"

The radio suddenly switched off. Tris turned around to see his brother standing by the set, looking cross. "Get down off that chair!" Siegfried scolded.

Tris quickly obeyed and sat down. "Just entertaining our guest, Siegfried," he said innocently.

"By making a fool of yourself, as usual. When will you ever grow up, Tristan?!"

"But, Siegfried-!"

"Oh, shut up," ordered Siegfried. "Well, I am going to have a nice hot dinner after a fairly unpleasant day, and then I'm going to smoke my pipe and go to bed. Have we figured out where Miss Hughes is going to sleep yet?"

"She can stay in my room," said Tris brightly.

The others looked at him in surprise.

Tris blushed and coughed awkwardly. "I'll, um, kip with James."

* * *

The Red Lady kicked off her shoes and crawled under the comfortable quilt on Tristan's bed, not bothering to take off the loaned dress. She laid on her stomach and buried her face in the pillows. They smelled good, like clover and brown sugar and clean sweat. Red wondered if that was what Tris smelled like.

_Woolly thinking, Red Lady. Don't go there!_

There was a tentative knock on the door. Red quickly rolled over and sat up. "Come in," she said.

A blonde head poked in. "Are you alright?" Tris asked. "Need extra blankets? Pillows? Glass of water?"

"No, I'm fine," said Red, smiling. "Thank you, though."

Tris shuffled in, hands in his pockets. Just another reminder of how very much like her Doctor he was. "Is your memory returning?"

Oh. The Red Lady'd forgotten that. "Uh, no. Not quite yet. Sorry."

"Oh, that's alright," said Tris, shrugging. He looked nervous and awkward...and alright, the Red Lady would admit, very cute.

Red shook her head. "It's absolutely uncanny."

"What?" asked Tris.

"How much you look like him."

"Your friend?"

"Yeah," said Red, nodding. "You could be twins. I'm not kidding."

"So, what's your friend's name?" said Tris. He sat at the foot of the bed, crossing his left leg over his right.

"You even _sit_ like him," Red laughed. "His name is the Doctor."

"The Doctor?" repeated Tris incredulously. "What kind of a name is that?"

"Well, obviously it's not _really_ his name," said Red, grinning. "The truth is, no one knows his real name. Not even me. He just goes by 'the Doctor'."

"What kind of person uses a fake name?" Tris laughed.

Red flushed. "Uh, I dunno. A dumb person, I suppose."

"Oh. Sorry. Didn't mean to insult your friend," said Tris, noticing her discomfort.

"Uh, no problem. It's fine." Red faked a yawn, which molded into a real one half way through. "I'm kinda tired. Been a long day, you know? Traveling, passing out, almost drowning-really takes it out of you."

"Oh, sure. No problem." Tris stood up, putting his hands in his pockets again. "G'night, Scarlett."

"Goodnight," Red sighed, snuggling under the quilt, as Tris turned out her light and closed her door.

* * *

Outside, in the hall, Tris groaned to himself, clunking his forehead against the wall.

"Tristan?" said James, coming out of the bathroom in his pajamas. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing, Jim, nothing," said Tris, crossing his arms and pouting.

James smiled kindly. "It's that girl, isn't it?"

Tris sighed as though the world was ending. (He could be a bit melodramatic at times.) "Just can't manage to say the right thing around her. I've never acted this stupid before!"

"That's debatable," James laughed. Tris glared at him. James coughed. "Sorry, old boy. Don't worry about it. You know how you are. Next week it'll be Marie or Suzanne or Henrietta or some other new girl."

"But that's just it!" said Tris frustratedly. "This one's different than the others."

"Yes, yes, but they're _always_ different with you. They're always _the one_."

"I mean it, James. She's different. She's smart, she's..._not easy_," Tris dropped his voice. "I mean, you may have pegged yourself a classy girl with Helen, but I'm not respectable like you!"

"I've never heard you speak this way before," said James, slightly concerned. "I thought you considered yourself the great Casanova of Darrowby!"

Tris sighed. "I think I'd better go to bed. Night, James."

"G'night, Tris," said James, watching his friend trudge down the hall. He smiled to himself and shook his head.

* * *

The Red Lady was sleeping peacefully, when she heard a scraping at her window. She sat up, rubbing her eyes...and look out the window.

The moon was shining through the glass, and a dark silhouette was pressed against the pane. The same silhouette she'd seen in the pond.

"Wait!" Red exclaimed, jumping out of bed.

The figure made a dash for it.

"No! Wait!" Red pulled on her shoes and ran out of the room.

She raced outside and saw the creature skittering across the lawn, into the pig pen. Red ran after it, then tripped on the hem of her stupid dress. She growled and picked herself up, jumped over the short fence into the vacant corral, just in time to see the thing's arrow-shaped tail disappear down the drain of the trough.

"What?!" Red exclaimed. That thing had been way too big to fit down a hole that small.

"_Grrrrr_. Nuts!" Red kicked the side of the trough, then turned around to go back inside, only to run smack into somebody. Red screamed.

"Hush, hush, it's just me!" Tris exclaimed, shining his flashlight into his own face so that she could see it was him.

"Oh," Red exhaled, relieved. Then she smacked him hard on the arm.

"Ow!" Tris cried.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" Red admonished him.

"Sorry!" Tris said, rubbing his sore upper arm. "I heard you running out of the house. Is everything alright?"

"Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to wake you up. Is everyone else up as well?"

"No, just me, I think. But why were you running?"

"Tris!" Red grabbed his arms, looking at him wide eyed. "I saw it. The thing! From the pond!"

"You did?" Tris looked slightly fearful.

"Yeah! It was at my bedroom window, then it ran away, so I chased after it!"

Tris shook his head. "So instead of just leaving the deadly thing that nearly drowned you this afternoon alone, you decided to run after it? You really are crazy, Scarlett."

"Look, I didn't get a very good look at it, but I _know_ I've seen a creature like that before," said Red, smacking her fist against her palm. "Whatever it is, it's bad."

"So why chase after it?!" Tris asked, bewildered.

"Because it's something that's gotta be stopped, most likely! Look, Tris. You know that friend I told you about? Well, we do more than just travel. We stop things. Like this. Weird things. Wrong things."

Tristan cocked his head to the side. "Well...what happened to it? The monster? Where'd it go?"

"It...uh..." How could the Red Lady say this without sounding like a lunatic? "It went down the drain?"

"The...the drain? Of the pigs' trough?" Tris took a quick look in the metal basin. "Scarlett, that's impossible. The thing that grabbed you was humongous, bigger than me, and that hole's barely big enough for a croquet ball!"

"Yeah, but...remember what you said about the depth of the water? How it was way deeper than usual? Somehow this creature is manipulating space, changing dimensions, making things bigger and deeper than they actually are."

Tris looked at her, understanding nothing she was saying. "Scarlett, I think you just ought to go back to bed, and we'll talk about all this tomorrow."

Red rubbed her eyes. "Maybe you're right. I'll...figure all this out in the morning, I guess."

Tris nodded. He offered his hand, and the Red Lady accepted it and allowed him to lead her back to the house.


	5. Rosy Days, Part 3

"Well, you two are awfully quiet," James observed.

Red sleepily rubbed her eyes. Tristan sipped his coffee and stayed silent.

James cleared his throat. Tris looked up from his mug and met his eyes. James raised an eyebrow questioningly. Tris lightly shook his head, confused. James nodded his head slightly toward the Red Lady, implying. Tris's eyes widened, and he shook his head again vehemently. James shrugged, nonplussed, and ate a spoonful of poached egg.

Both Tris and Red had had trouble falling back asleep after the creature's disappearance the night before. Tris was puzzled over the whole thing (how could something be bigger than it actually was?), and a little bit concerned about their visitor. Had Scarlett hit her head harder than they'd suspected? Was she mad? Well, he knew she wasn't crazy, because he'd seen the Thing too. Which only left one possibility...that she was right.

Meanwhile, Red was pondering over the mysterious creature. She was sure she'd seen it somewhere, sometime before. The scales, the fins, the fishlike eyes, the tail...shaped like an arrow. Like the Devil's-

"Sea Devil!" Red suddenly shouted, jumping out of her chair.

Siegfried looked across the table at her from over his newspaper. "I beg your pardon?"

All three men and Mrs. Hall, collecting James's clean plate, were giving her odd looks.

"Uh. It was...just a...a pub in my hometown," Red lied, sitting down. "I'd been trying to remember the name of it."

Mrs. Hall harrumphed. "Young ladies should not idle their time away in such raunchy places." She picked up Red's plate and sashayed into the kitchen contemptuously.

Red deflated slightly. "Don't mind her," said Tris quietly, touching her shoulder. "She's a bit grumpy in the morning...and at night...and in the afternoon...well, most all the time, really."

Red giggled softly.

* * *

Later, Red was sitting with Tris in the surgery, manning the office while James and Sieg were out on their house calls. All was quiet. "Tris," Red said.

"Hmm?"

"I remembered what that thing is called."

"What is it?"

"It's called a Sea Devil." Red hopped off of her perch on the counter and started pacing.

"What's a Sea Devil?" Tris asked, looking up from labelling medicines.

"Well, it's strange. I've never seen one outside the ocean. It must be a freshwater variant. Anyway, it's a distant, aquatic cousin of the Silurians-they're sort of dinosaur people. Reptilian humanoids from Earth's Prehistoric epoch. They went into hibernation when the Moon fell into Earth's gravitational pull, but they occasionally stir when they feel disturbed-" The Red Lady stopped when she noticed Tris staring at her in bewilderment. "Look, basically, what we're dealing with here is a bastard child of a mermaid and a sasquatch."

Tris didn't know what to say. "You've...dealt with these creatures before?"

"Yeah, me and the Doctor. With the Royal Navy. Around London, in the '70s. Or was it the '80s? Bah, I'm never sure."

"But, uh..." Tris laughed nervously. "The 1870s? That would make you seventy years old or something, wouldn't it?"

"Oh, no. It was the 1970s...or '80s."

"But...but..." Tris was truly struggling here. "The 1970s? You mean in thirty years or so? As in...the future? That's impossible."

"Not for a time traveler."

Tris froze. "A...what?"

Red sighed. "Look, Tristan. I may as well tell you the whole story. The truth is...I'm a time traveler. I travel with the Doctor through time...and space."

Tris stayed frozen for a second. Then, he slowly sank down into an office chair. "Space?" he squeaked.

"Yeah. Name a planet, I've probably been to it. Venus, Mars, Pluto, Thoros Beta, Deva Loka, Peladon, Skaro, Raxacoricofallapatorius. I been everywhere, man."

Tris was dumbstruck. "You're...from space."

"Huh? Oh, no. _I'm_ human. Born in 1996, bred in Texas, and lived there my whole life. Till I met the Doctor, that is."

"Wait a minute," said Tris. "I was born in 1922. So that would make me...seventy years older than you?!"

"Yes. And no. You see, people assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but _actually_ from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like..." Red sighed, because she hated using this phrase, but it really was the most appropriate means of putting it. "A big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff. But basically, you're only about two years older than me."

Tris sat there, mouth open like a fish.

"What I can't understand," said Red, ignoring him, getting back to the problem at hand, "is the dimensional displacement. There's only one race I know of that has the ability to bend space like that, and it's not Silurians...unless..." Red was about to say, _unless they somehow got their hands on a TARDIS_, when "Walkin' On Sunshine" by Katrina And The Waves suddenly blasted from her pocket. "Oh! Excuse me." Red pulled her phone out of her jeans pocket. "Hello?"

_Red -ady-...where-...-you?_

"Doctor?" said Red. "Is that you? Oh good! You can help me with a problem. But wait, why do you sound so crackily?"

_Dimen-...reception not-...-urn on y-...DPS!_

"Oh, right! You're having to call from another dimension. Here, wait." Red went to her settings menu and activated the Dimensional Positioning System. "Better?"

The Doctor came through, loud and clear. _Ah! Much better. Red Lady, where did you go?_

"Uh...I was sidetracked. Ended up in a completely wrong universe. Sorry."

_I'll admit, you had me quite worried._

Red laughed. "Ah, Doctor. You know me. I can take care of myself. Although...I did kind of almost drown."

_Drown?!_ the Doctor repeated. _Are you alright?!_

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. A very nice young man saved me." Red smiled at Tris, who still looked gobsmacked about the whole thing. "But that's what I wanted to talk you about, Doctor. I was dragged under the water by a Sea Devil!"

_My goodness!_

"Exactly! But what puzzles me is what they're doing in this universe. I thought they were only native to yours. I know they're not in mine."

_Well, you never truly know, Red Lady. The universe is full of possibilities. Were you attacked in the ocean?_

"Well, no, actually. It was just a little pond."

_Hmm! A fish out of water, you might say_.

"Doctor, that joke was awful, and I couldn't be more proud of you for it."

_Thank you_, the Doctor answered smugly. _So, a freshwater Sea Devil. What would that be? A Pond Devil, perhaps?_

"Let's just stick with Sea Devil for now, has a better ring. But there's more. The boy who saved me said that the pond was much deeper than usual. Then last night, I spotted the creature jumping into a drainpipe that had roughly the circumference of a cricket ball. Somehow, this thing has access to spatial manipulating technology."

_Just like the TARDIS. Oh, Red Lady, that's not good._

"No kidding! So what can we do? How can we take out the Sea Devil?"

_Hmm...when the Master and I encountered them, they managed to blow themselves up. No chance of that this time 'round, I'd guess. Hmm...I'll think of something, do some research. Meanwhile, keep your DPS on so I can triangulate on your signal. It could take some time, though. The TARDIS doesn't much like making transdimensional journeys._

"Okay, Doctor. But hurry! The DPS drains my battery, and I don't have my charger! And I'm since I'm stuck in the '40s, I can't exactly go buy one at the convenience store."

_Understood. See you soon, Red Lady. Hopefully._

"Bye, Doctor." Red hung up, then turned around to look at Tris.

Tris, shaking, stood up. "You-you really are from the future!" he gasped.

Red nodded patiently. "Yes. Yes, I am."

"This..." Tris leaned on the desk for support. "This is too much, Scarlett."

"Also, my name's not Scarlett," said Red, smiling guiltily. "That's just a name I made up. My real name is the Red Lady."

Tristan groaned.

"Don't worry, Tris," said Red consolingly. "I don't bite...often." She winked.

"But...but...aliens? They're real?"

"Oh, yes. Several of Britain's prime ministers and monarchs have been extraterrestrial," Red said. "You wouldn't believe it."

"I _don't_ believe it," said Tris, shaking his head in fervent denial. "Aliens and flying saucers and the whole bit...and time travel! It just can't be so."

Red smiled kindly at him and put a hand on his shoulder. "More things in heaven and earth, Tristan."

Tris was at a loss for words. He stared at the wall in shock.

Red's eyes darted to the open office door, looking into the waiting room. "Not much business today."

"Er, no," said Tris, despite his stupor. "Sundays are always slow. Day of rest, you know."

"True." Red thought for a second. "How long will James and Siegfried be gone?"

"Dunno." Tris shrugged. "Probably till mid-afternoon."

Red started for the door. "And how far is it to Nugent's Pond from here on foot?"

"You're going to walk all the way there?" asked Tris, standing up.

"Well, I may have a lot of talents, but sadly, flying isn't one of them," said Red.

"Well...well, just...hold on." Tris took off his lab coat and hung it on the rack in the corner. "I'm coming with you."

"You sure? Sieg comes back and you're not here, he'll have your hide," Red warned.

"Oh, he's always cross with me for some reason," said Tris. "Besides...we'll be fast. No one'll miss us."

Five minutes later, they were in Tris's rattly beige Oldsmobile. The windows were rolled down, and the Yorkshire breeze was blowing the Red Lady's and Tris's hair around. "Scarlett-I mean, Red Lady-are these things-these Sea Devil creatures-dangerous?" Tris asked.

"They tried to drown me," said the Red Lady. "That's reason enough for me to believe they're dangerous."

The little radio was playing a sweet little tune. "_I remember that time in May/I thought you would forever stay/you and I, in the fields we'd lay/in those young and rosy days..._"

Red looked over at Tris, studying him. "Tris?"

"What?"

Red laid her hands in her lap. "I'm sorry I lied."

Tris paused before speaking. "I understand. I mean, I don't understand any of this..._stuff_. But I know why you lied."

Red nodded. "I...I'm still _me_, though. I'm just...a little more than you may have bargained for."

Tris looked at her. "It's alright, Scar-...Red Lady."

Red smiled a little. So did Tris, for a second, then turned his gaze back to the road.

"_...soaking in the golden rays/I thought you would forever stay/watching clouds and counting jays/in those young and rosy days..._"

* * *

They pulled up to Nugent's Pond and Red hopped out. "Careful, Red Lady," Tris warned.

"It's alright," said Red. "I only want to know what they want." She stopped at the water's edge. She looked across the pond's surface for a moment, then took a deep breath in. Cupping her mouth with her hands, she emitted a loud sound, something crossed between gurgling and howling.

"What are you doing?!" Tris asked, stupefied.

"Silurian herding call. I figured it might work with Sea Devils too." Red made the noise again. Then, she fell silent.

And they waited.

After a moment, Tris spoke up. "I don't thi-"

"Shhh." Red held her hand to silence him, listening intently. Then she smiled at the faint sound of burbling.

Suddenly, out of the water they came. One, then two, four, eight of them.

"Oh my God," gasped Tris.

They sludged through the water and approached the shore. The leader, the one that had tried to drag Red down the day before, the one that had been at her window, faced her. It studied her intently with its golden fishy eyes. "_Ssssso...it issss true_," it hissed. "_The girl of crimsssson, the Doctor'sssss ally...isss here._"

"You know the Doctor?" said Red, crossing her arms, looking stoic. She was in full Red Lady mode now. "Then you're like me-you don't belong here."

The clan hissed. "_There wassss a cleft in the fabric between worldssss_," said the Leader. "_Right in the heart of our occccean dwelling. We were pulled through, to thisss world, landlocked. Mosssst did not sssurvive. The remainder found refuge in thisss minute pool. But alassss, it lacksssss sssssalt, the nutrient we require to sssussstain oursssselvesss. We ssssicken more with each passsssssssssing day. We believed all hope wasssss lossssst...until you appeared_."

"Me?" said Red. "What have I to do with any of this?"

"_You are known to be able to bend time and ssspaccccce to your will. You can sssssssend ussssss back to our world._"

"Why can't you send yourself back?" the Red Lady asked. "You've been manipulating spatial relations since you got here. I saw you."

"_Ssssmall passsssssagewaysss have been esssstablissshed_," the leader admitted. "_But they all lead back to thissssss pond. All leadsssssss to the pond._"

"_All leadssssssss to the pond_," the rest of the Sea Devils echoed.

"So...there's some sort of anomaly linked to this pond, and because of it, you're trapped here." Red laughed hollowly. "Yeah, well, you're not the only one, my fine fishy friend."

"_Whaaaaaaat?_" breathed the leader.

"I'm trapped here too," said Red. "I came here by accident. I ripped through the fabric of reality and it left me drained. It'll take time to recharge and be able to send myself back home again, least of all eight Sea Devils."

"_You musssssssst. It isssssss the only way to ensssssure our ssssssurvival_," insisted the leader.

"Now, wait, just wait," said Red. "You know of my friend, the Doctor. Well, he's coming to get me. He has a TARDIS, which can travel between dimensions. If I ask him, he can take you home."

"_Whhhhhhhen?_"

"Soon. Tomorrow, maybe," said Red.

"_Not sssssssssoon enough_," hissed the leader. "_We sssssssshall be dead by that time. We mussssssst have transssssssport now_."

"I'm sorry, but it's the best I can do. If I sent all of you back, it would use up all of my brain power. I'd be dead."

"_Then we have no choicccccccce_."

"Aaaagh!"

Red's head whipped around. Tris was being strangled by one of the Sea Devils, which had crawled up on land while Red and the leader had been negotiating, and now he was being dragged to the water. "No! Leave him be! He has nothing to do with this!" Red protested, breaking into a panic.

"Red Lady! Help!" Tris cried chokingly, thrashing frantically against the Sea Devil's hold.

"_You will sssssssssend ussssssss home or he will be sssssssslain_," claimed the leader. "_What will you choosssssssssse?_"

The Red Lady was afraid.


	6. Rosy Days, Part 4

**Okay, I rewrote this bit because I hated the way I ended it before. It was very un-Red Lady of me. So hopefully this is better. And "Clive Hawksworth" was the name of a role Anthony Ainley (the Master) played in _Spyder's Web_.**

* * *

Tris's face was bright red and quickly fading to purple. He choked against his restraints, panic in his blue eyes as he reached out to the Red Lady beseechingly. _Help!_ he seemed to say.

"_Make your choiccce, Red Lady_," hissed the Sea Devil leader.

Red looked from him to Tris to the other Sea Devils, trying to think of what to do. She licked her lips and shouted "Right!"

Red thrust out her hands, open-palm, sending bolts of golden energy into the chests of every Sea Devil, including the one with the hold on Tristan, making them disappear.

Tristan desperately gasped for oxygen as he clattered to the ground, clutching at his neck where the monster had strangled him. Meanwhile, Red, her eyes rolling back in her head before they shut, fell over onto the ground limply.

"Reh-Red Lady!" wheezed Tris, crawling over to her. "Oh-oh, Lord." He put his ear to her chest. "Heart's still beating!" He gently patted Red's cheeks. "Oh, please, please wake up!"

But the Red Lady did not stir.

"Oh no." Tris cradled her body and kissed the top of her head. "You saved my life. If you die I don't know how I'll live with myself. Please don't die."

* * *

Red slowly came too in Tristan's bed, with the blonde boy sitting across from her. "Oh, Red Lady, thank goodness you're awake!" he exclaimed, hugging her.

"Oh, uh!" Red said dazedly. "How...did I get here?"

"Well, I brought you here after what happened. Well, it was the least I could do. I'm just so glad you're not dead," Tris said, grinning relievedly.

"Yeah, well...that makes two of us," Red chuckled weakly.

"So...how did you do it?" Tris asked. "How did you send those monsters to their world back without dying?"

"Oh, I didn't," grunted Red sleepily, rubbing her temples. "They're still here. Just a long way away."

Tris looked worried. "Where are they, then?"

"Sent 'em to the Dead Sea, in the east. They're so dumb, they probably won't realize they've been bamboozled. The Dead Sea is the saltiest enclosed body of water on Planet Earth." Red carefully sat up. "In fact...it's so salty...it'll most likely kill 'em."

Tris's eyebrows shot up. "You _killed_ them?"

"Tris, I offered them a peaceful alternative and they responded with violence. They were going to kill you," said Red rationally. "It's no different than putting a rabid dog to sleep."

"Hey, wait a minute, that is _very_ different-"

"There was nothing I could do. They were dying anyway. They may not have survived even I could've sent them back. Besides, if I had, they would have just gone back to endangering lives in their world. They're a hostile species. I was protecting people-you included."

Tris looked defeated. "I...guess I understand. And thank you, by the way. For saving my life."

Red smiled shyly and gently punched his arm. "Well, I guess we're even."

Tris smiled too, shakily. He slowly began to lean in-

"Tristan!" Siegfried suddenly called from downstairs. "Mrs. Granger's bulldog is constipated and you're not here to help her! What exactly am I paying you for, again?"

Red bit her lip, giggling. She shrugged at Tris, who sighed and laughed as well.

* * *

A few hours later, Red came downstairs and came into the clinic. "Oh, Red Lady! Good, you're up," said Tris, looking up from the registry.

"Yeah. All I really needed was a little catnap," said Red. "So...how's Mrs. Granger's bulldog?"

"Patsy happily left this office with a clear colon. Apparently she had swallowed little Tommy Granger's toy soldier," said Tris, standing up and coming over to stand beside her.

"Good." Then the radio in the corner caught Red's eye. "Hey, conductor." She strode across the room and switched the set on. "Why don't you give us another round?"

Tris laughed. "Right, because that was such a good idea the last time."

"Oh, come on." Red grinned beechingly. "For me?"

"Well alright. Though, this isn't a very upbeat song. The Mad Conductor doesn't do slow."

"Oh well..."Red pretended to sigh. "Guess we'll just have to do something different to this song."

"Like what?"

"Like...dance?" Red suggested as she took his hands.

"Oh. Yeah, there is that," Tris blushed. They had just started to move to the music when suddenly-

_"The BBC apologizes for this interruption. A breaking story in Palestine has just been reported to us. Peoples on the shore of the Dead Sea-_"

"Oh no," gasped Red, breaking away from Tris and hurrying over to the radio.

"-_stories indicate sightings of massive sea creatives, taller than some buildings, rampaging the TransJordian countryside. Rumors that the Middle Eastern branch of the covert extra-operative agency, Torchw-_"

"Oh my God, Tris!" gasped Red. "I've made a huge mistake!"

"You mean those monsters are still alive?" Tris yelped.

"Worse than that-I've made them _stronger_. Oh, God, this is all my fault!" Red exclaimed.

"It's alright, Red," said Tris. "You heard the radio man-they're sending in people to take care of the problem."

"That's not enough," said Red, shaking her head. "This planet's defenses were barely enough to take on the Sea Devils fifty years from now, much less in the Interwar era of Britain. You all haven't even fought World War II yet!"

"'Two'? There's another one?" Tris asked, shocked.

"There won't be a world to have another one in if I don't stop those Sea Devils right now!"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on there, Red Lady!" Tris exclaimed. "The last time you took on those things, you nearly died! And now they're bigger and stronger!"

"Doesn't matter," said Red. "It's my responsibility."

Tris thought for a millisecond. "Then let me come with you."

"No. You were already almost killed by these things once. I won't have an innocent life lost on my hands!"

"They almost killed you too! Look, whether you like it or not, I'm a part of this. It's my world, and I want to help save it." Tris's blue eyes were stern.

Now it was Red's turn to hesitate. "Alright. Just stay out of harm's way."

Tris nodded.

"Here." Red slipped her hand into his. "Hold on tight."

And suddenly they were transported to the East. Tris looked around wildly. "Wha-! But-we were just-"

"Did I mention I have the power of teleportation?" Red let go of his hand and looked around. "Now, we-"

The silence was broken by a great roar, and screams. "I'm guessing the creatures are in that direction," said Tris, pointing over a hill.

"You'd be guessing right, Farnon. Come on!" The two raced up the hill. At top, they caught sight of the clan of Sea Devils, now engorged to the size of Godzilla, stalking over the countryside.

"My God," breathed Tris.

"God can't help us now, kid," muttered Red darkly.

"What do we do?" said Tris. "Can you kill them?"

"No. And even I could, I wouldn't. I refuse to respond with violence again," said Red. "I want to transport them. Neptune maybe. Neptune is devoid of life. Well, except for some micro-crab creatures. They'll get along swimmingly. Ha ha. Swimmingly. I'm hilarious."

"But you said your powers aren't strong enough for that," Tris pointed out.

"They're not on my own. If only I had some kind of way to amplify my power...some kind of broadcasting device..."

"Hello, I'm Geoffrey Chancellor, BBC Worldwide Radio. I'm standing with two youngsters witnessing this devastating travesty," said a snooty British accent as a man in a suit with thick brown hair and blindingly white teeth approached them. He pushed a microphone into Red's face. "Now tell me, young lady, how do you feel right now watching this catastrophic and scientifically mind-boggling event?"

Red looked into the (non-existent) camera like it's _The Office_ and grinned. "I just love deus ex machina. Excuse me!" She grabbed the microphone from Geoffrey Chancellor and the broadcasting box from his PA and ran away with them down the hill, the radiomen yelling after her angrily.

The Red Lady put her lips to the microphone. "Listeners in radio land, this is an official message from an Honorary official of the UNified Intelligence Taskforce. I urge you all to switch your sets off for the next thirty seconds, as the following broadcast may cause irreparable disrepair to your radio's internal wiring. Neither UNIT nor the BBC is responsible for any damage the following broadcast may incur-you've been warned. Sets off!"

The Red Lady aimed the broadcaster's antenna straight at the monsters, then put her hands over the mouthpiece of the mike. Energy flowed through the machine and at the monsters, and the energy was duplicated in mass and bounced off all the radio towers in the world that broadcast BBC Radio-so, damn near all of them. The energy flowed straight to the Sea Devils and surrounded them in a phosphorescent aura, almost brighter than the sun. Atop the hill, Tris and the radio men had to shield their eyes. Then, in a flash, the monsters disappeared.

"Red!" Tris came trodding down the hill. "Are you alright?!"

Red grinned at him. "Are you kidding? That gave me a _super_ charge! I feel like I just had four shots of espresso and an orgasm!"

Tris blushed. "A-and the Sea Devils? They're gone? You're sure this time?"

"Positive," said the Red Lady confidantly.

"You there!" Geoffrey Chancellor and his PA had caught up to them. "I'll have you arrested for thievery and tamperization of public radio!"

"Have to catch us first!" said Red gleefully, grabbing Tris's hand and teleporting them out of them, back to England.

* * *

Tris gasped as they rematerialized in the vet's office. "I'll never get used to that," he said.

Red laughed kindly. Then she heard the familiar _vworp vworp_ of the TARDIS materializing. "Oh! There's my ride."

Tristan looked at Red sadly. "Do you really have to go? Can't you stay?"

Red smiled at him regretfully. She leaned up and softly kissed his lips. Tris's eyes fluttered closed, and he didn't breathe.

Red pulled away. "Goodbye, Tris. It was wonderful to meet you."

"Excuse me." A stout, dark haired (familiar looking) man in a straw hat and overalls carrying a rooster had come in. "My chicken has a broken foot. Can you help me?"

Red's hands flew up to her mouth as she snorted with laughter.

"Certainly, sir. I can help you," said Tris. "I'm Tristan Farnon. And you?"

"Clive Hawksworth," said the Master look-alike.

"Pardon me, sir," said Red, choking back giggles. "But have you ever considered growing a beard?"

Farmer Hawksworth looked confused. "Well, yes, I did try once, but everyone told me I looked like the Devil."

Red nodded comprehendingly. "Yeah. You would. Well...bye, Tris." She gave the two men one last look, cracking up, then turned on her heel and left the room.

The TARDIS was parked outside Skeldale house, and the Doctor was leaning in the doorway expectantly. "Got a bit lost, did we?" said the Doctor, grinning at her teasingly.

"Hello, Doctor," Red smiled exasperatedly. "Oh, by the way, I took care of those Sea Devils _without_ your almighty wisdom, Time Lord."

"Oh, well, good for you," the Doctor said sarcastically. Then they laughed.

"Wait, Red Lady, you-" Tris came running out of the house. He stopped short when he saw the Red Lady standing next to the TARDIS and the Doctor.

The Doctor, looking mystified, approached his doppelganger. Tris did the same, his expression of bewilderment perfectly mimicking the Doctor's. The two blonde men faced off, studying each other in disbelief.

"I know," said the Red Lady, leaning against the TARDIS. "Freaky, huh?"

"Extraordinary!" remarked the Doctor.

"Weird," added Tristan.

"You...are an extremely attractive man," the Doctor said to Tris.

Tris grinned. "Thanks, handsome. You're not so bad yourself."

Red rolled her eyes. "Oh God-alright, break it up, Sprouse twins!"

The Doctor turned and headed inside the ship. The Red Lady was about to follow him, but then she looked back at Tris Tris smiled sadly at her and waved goodbye. Red smiled back, and went inside. Then the TARDIS wheezed and groaned and faded from sight.

Tristan watched the ship disappear. "Wow," he breathed.


	7. Brick By Brick, Part 1

****Takes place directly after "Epilogue", Chapter 102 of _Space Boyfriends_.****

* * *

"So, where are we off to today?" the Master asked.

"Dunno. Anywhere's fine with me," said "Clara". The Red Lady was watching from above, on the balcony, her eyes narrowed suspiciously at the young woman in the short skirt.

"Ah, c'mon, anywhere in the universe, you must have a preference," the Doctor goaded her.

"Well, you're the ones who've seen it all," "Clara" laughed. The Red Lady withheld a shudder at that laugh. It was _exactly_ like Darla's.

_There's got to be a difference_, Red thought insistently. _Something!_

"What do you think, Red Lady?"

Red blinked, shaken from her reverie. "What?"

"We were just discussing going to Feldspoon. It's one of your favorite planets. Would you like to go there?" the Master asked her.

"Uh...yeah. Sure. Fine with me." Red walked downstairs.

The Master smiled at her. "Good." Then he and the Doctor fired up the TARDIS.

The Red Lady leaned against the console, arms crossed over her chest, brows furrowed darkly.

"Um...excuse me?"

Red looked up. There were big, brown, soulful-_haunting_-eyes looking into her. "Red Lady? That is your name, isn't it?" Clara asked.

Red nodded silently. Clara chuckled, a bit uncomfortably, as if not sure what to say. "That's funny."

"What?" Red asked.

"Well, it's just...I met a fella the other day called 'Pink'. And now, here's a Red."

"Interesting name, Pink," Red commented.

"Oh, no, no, it's not his first name, it's his surname. Danny, his first name is. Danny Pink." Clara blushed.

Suddenly, the Red Lady remembered something. "Wait...Danny _Pink_? Is that what you said?"

"_Have you ever been in love?...I was, once. This bloke back home. Orson, he was called. Orson Pink."_

"Yeah. Danny Pink. Kind of a nice name. I guess," Clara tacked on to the end, as if trying to sound unenthusiastic. It was clear she had a crush.

Red looked straight at her. "Who _are_ you?"

"I'm...Clara. Clara Oswald," said the brunette confusedly. "The Doctor just...told you."

"No. I mean, _what_ are you?" Red spat.

Clara took a step back. "Huh?"

"Well, we are, Feldspoon! Best vineyards in the Phaxos system. Maybe even the universe." The Master came up between the young ladies. "Shall we take a look?"

"Er...yeah." Clara slowly backed away from the Red Lady's hawkish stare and toward the front door. "Sounds like fun."

The Master looked at the Red Lady curiously. The human girl turned her eyes away from him. "Come on! Let's go."

Clara jogged ahead to catch up with the Doctor, but the Master grabbed Red's shoulder. "Alright. Something's the matter."

"No, it's not," Red tried to lie.

"You can't fool me, Red Lady," said the Master. "Come on, then. Out with it."

Red looked at the brunette woman up ahead. "That girl...how did you meet her?"

"Well, it's a bit of a long story, but basically, we meet her during a battle with the Great Intelligence in London."

"Oh. They're back, huh? Do you suppose it was them, then?" Red asked.

"It was them what?" the Master said.

Red sighed. "That girl, Clara...I think she's a trap."

The Master, to Red's surprise, laughed. "Whatever makes you say that?"

"Because...she can't be real. She just can't."

"And why ever not?"

"Because...she's dead."

The Master cocked his head at her in confusion. "Explain?"

Red sighed and looked up at her. "Do you remember when I found you? In the Time War? We escaped together, in a Type Two TARDIS."

"Of course," said the Master. "You tricked me into becoming human."

"Sorry. Had to uphold the timeline. Paradoxes and all that. Well, do you remember how I said I'd lost someone in the Time War?" Red gestured to Clara. "It was her. I mean, it wasn't her, it was another girl, named Darla. But she looked and acted _exactly_ like her. I think someone's copied Darla's DNA or something and set up this Clara girl to trick us or something."

The Master looked from Clara to Red and back again, then raised his eyebrows as something clicked. "Ah...I believe I understand. Red Lady, I'm very sorry, but I'm afraid Miss Oswald is the original."

"What?" said Red.

The Master sighed. "Do you recall visiting the Dalek Asylum with the Doctor, the Ponds, and myself?"

"Yes. The Daleks wanted us to take down the force field so they could destroy the planet and all the messed up Daleks on there. That Oswin Dalek girl helped us out."

"Well...she was Clara."

Red was taken back. "What?"

The Master nodded. "And then, after you had to...leave us, the Doctor and I settled in Victorian England, where we encountered a young nanny named Clara Oswin Oswald. And she was the same Clara."

"But...you said Clara was from the 21st century. Like me."

"She is. The real one is. You see..." The Master sighed. "The Doctor and I went to Trenzalore-"

"Trenzalore! But you can't go there!" Red panicked.

"But we did. Twice, I'm afraid. We went in the future, after the Doctor and my...deaths. The Great Intelligence entered the Doctor's time signature, scattering traces of itself up and down his timeline, turning every victory into a loss, every planet saved to a planet destroyed. They even managed to successfully kill me. But Clara...brave, brave little Clara...she followed the Intelligence and stopped the interferences, restoring the continuity of the Doctor's timeline. But it scattered copies of Clara all across space and time. She didn't always go by 'Clara Oswald', but something similar enough. She was Souffle Girl. She was the Victorian nanny."

"And she was Darla Woscal..." said Red breathlessly. Then she added, in a dry tone, "which I just realized is an anagram for 'Clara Oswald'. Wow. I am so stupid."

"Not stupid, my dear," said the Master. "Just uninformed."

"So...Darla was a copy of Clara...and the real one is here?"

"Yes," said the Master.

Red felt so...empty. Like she'd lost Darla all over again. "She saved my life," she said quietly.

"It must be because you've saved the Doctor so many times," said the Master. "Your time stream is intertwined with his, as mine is. It was only a matter of time before you encountered Clara."

"But..." Red looked up at the Master, her eyes big with sadness. "I loved-"

"Oi, are the two of you gonna stay in here all day?" said the Doctor, poking his head in the TARDIS. "Come on, come on! Pudding brains..." he sighed, re-exiting.

Red hiccupped slightly, dejectedly turned for the door, and headed outside, the Master following her.

* * *

Throughout the expedition, the Doctor remained blissfully unaware of the Red Lady's troubles. Clara stayed a safe distance away from her, being slightly put off by Red's outburst. The Master, on the other hand, kept giving the Red Lady sympathetic looks.

The Red Lady was just looking forward to the wine planet. She wanted to drink away her troubles.

Of course, it would not be that simple.

"Red Lady?"

There was _that voice_ again. Red looked up from her wine glass. It was only her first glass, but Feldspoonian wine was very strong, and she was already feeling the heady effects. "Oh. Hello."

Clara sat down next to her, a little wobbly. "I feel like you and I got off to a bad start. Listen, I just want to be friends." She held out her hand. "What do you say?"

Red looked at her hand, then shook it. "Friends." Now that the initial shock was over, Red felt ashamed of how she'd treated her. "I'm really sorry about how I acted before...you just...reminded me of someone...I used to know," Red said quickly, not wanting to get into detail about Darla, or she would started crying into her wine.

"Oh. Yeah, I get that. Wibbly wobbly timey wimey," said Clara, with a hiccupy laugh.

Red chuckled half-heartedly. "Something like that...he doesn't still say that, does he?"

"Oh no," said Clara. "Though I have heard him say 'shuttity up'. He sounds like that Malcolm Tucker guy on that _The Thick Of It_ show, you ever watched it?"

"Uh...no. How much have you had to drink?" said Red.

"Coup-_hic!_-couple of glasses," said Clara.

"Oh dear," said Red, getting up to support Clara. "You know Feldspoonian wine is like, ten times stronger than Earth wine, right?"

Clara blushed. "Oh no. Do you think that's a problem?"

"Nah, I'm sure it's fine. You can always get another liver."

For some reason, Clara seemed to think this was hilarious. Red rolled her eyes. "Come on, girlie. You need to lie down before you pass out. I'm surprised you haven't already."

Red walked Clara back to the TARDIS, who was practically falling over now, fully intoxicated. Suddenly, as they passed a dark alley, they heard a shrill screech.

"Get away from me, whoever you are!" cried a Feldspoonian woman with pink hair, backing away from a man with midnight purple hair pursuing her, armed with flowers and sweets.

"Darling, it's me, Tumnis!" said the man kindly, looking upon the frightened woman with love.

"I don't know who or _what_ you are, but you are not my husband!"

"Darling, you're confused. Come back home with me, this will all be alright in the morning-"

"You keep away from me, you...you creature!"

Tumnis's voice turned dark. "Darling love, it is me, your loving husband, your perfect match. And soon, you will be perfect for me as well." He reached out for the woman's throat.

"Hey!" The Red Lady ran into the alleyway and with a sweep of her hand, had Tumnis flying into the opposite wall of the alley. "The lady said lay off!"

Tumnis whipped his head at her, getting up as if being thrown against a brick wall felt like being struck with a pillow. He eyed her malaciously. "Don't meddle in affairs you do not understand, you flawed little girl."

"Calling me 'little girl' is the last mistake you'll ever make." The Red Lady kicked upward and her foot struck the underside of his chin. "Ahh!" gasped Red in pain, sinking to the ground. His flesh had been as hard as metal. "It hurts!"

Tumnis chuckled wickedly and reached down to her, but Red shot her hand out and grabbed his wrist, zapping him with electricity. It was a minor shock, enough to knock a living being out, but not completely electrocute them.

That is, if the man had been alive.

Instead, the energy flowed through him, causing him to give off sparks. With an agonized cry, the metal man fell to the ground in a charred, limp pile of bionic limbs.

Red carefully got up and examined the body. She nudged it with her (other) foot. "Metal," she said, amazed. "He was...a robot?"


	8. Brick By Brick, Part 2

**Hey, so it's been...like a year. Heh. Sorry about that. I lived through my first year of college, and with YANA, plus my career taking off, and all the _Sherlock_ fics I've been writing lately, it's been hard to fit this in too. But maybe I can get some done this summer. Anyway...part 2 of Brick by Brick.**

* * *

Red looked at the pink haired woman and said, "I…I'm so…was that your partner?"

The woman shook her cotton-candy-colored head fervently. "No! My Tumnis was alive, he wasn't…" She pointed a shaky finger at the piled of burned tin. "…that!"

"Alright, alright, calm down, it can't hurt you anymore," said Red, taking ahold of the woman's wrists and emitting calming sensations to the woman's nerve centers till her breathing slowed to a stable rate. "What's your name?"

"Phoebos," said the woman, blinking her lime green eyes down at the Red Lady.

"Hello, Phoebos," said Red calmly. "I am the Red Lady. Can you tell me where that…" Red pointed to the dismantled robot. "…came from?"

Phoebos shook her head. "No, he just…well, he just came home from work one day, a couple of weeks ago…I didn't even know anything was different…except that he was more attentive, more considerate. It was like he was, I don't know, Mr. Wonderful or something, all of a sudden. But there was something…off about him too. There was this hardness in his eyes, a coldness. And then tonight, he was trying to get me out of the house, trying to get me to go somewhere. 'The plant', he called it. He said it was where he'd 'gotten fixed' and that I should get myself fixed too. I told him there was nothing wrong with me, but he kept insisting that I needed to be improved. I kept telling him no, but he was just getting angrier and angrier, until finally he started getting forceful. So I ran away, but he caught up with me, here, in this alley, trying to coerce me with sweet talk…if you hadn't come along when you had, I don't know what would have happened."

"Well, it wasn't just me, it was also my friend-" It was then Red remembered the staggeringly drunk girl she'd been guiding back to the TARDIS. "Clara!" Red called, her head snapping around to look behind her. "Clara!" she shouted, running out of the alleyway and back into the deserted streets. There was not a soul to be seen.

"Oh no!" Red groaned, smacking herself in the face. "Rassilon only knows where she might have gotten to! I gotta find her or the Doctor and the Master will flay me alive!"

"Is your friend missing?" said Phoebos, sticking her head around the corner. "Can I help you find her?"

"No, that's alright," said Red, smiling kindly. "You should go home, stay indoors. In the morning, file a missing persons report with the police for your husband. I'm sure the real him will turn up any day now."

"I hope you're right," said Phoebos, coming over to kiss the palm of Red's hand-it was a sign of gratitude on the planet of Feldspoon. "Oh, thank you so much!" she said, running off down the street.

"Okay," Red said to herself once the woman was gone. "If I was a drunk girl…where would I go?"

* * *

_Meanwhile, in a bar…_

"Woo hoo! More of that Charizard 3064!" called Clara to the bartender.

The neon-yellowed hair guy behind the bar gazed at her dubiously through his orange irises. "You sure you ain't had enough, honey?"

"Ah, come on, I'm-_hic!_-I'm just getting warmed up!" Clara swayed on her barstool. The trouble with Feldspoonian wine, if one hasn't built up sort of a tolerance for it, it can become very addictive. The English teacher was now feeling the side effects of the special molecule found in Feldspoonian grapes, and she was feeling free and…very suggestible.

"Hello there," said a man, sliding onto the stool next to her. His hair was forest green and his eyes were amber colored, his smile charming and comely. "I'm Gorg. You look all alone tonight."

"Well no, I was with…well, she left me to go help somebody. I don't think she liked me anyway," said Clara sadly, looking at her lap.

"Why not?" Gorg asked politely.

"I don't know…maybe there's something wrong with me." Tears began to spill from her eyes.

Gorg smiled kindly and pulled a business card from his breastpocket. "Don't worry, lovely lady…we can fix that." He handed her the card.

* * *

"CLAAAAAAAARAAAAAAAA!"

Red wandered through the streets, calling for the wayward brunette. "Oh God, oh Allah, oh Buddha, whatever higher power is the _real_ one-help me find this lost, emotionally scarring replica of my deceased girlfriend-before something bad happens to her drunk behind!"

Suddenly, a hand grabbed the Red Lady's arm. "Ah!" Red whirled around to face her assailant.

There was a police officer behind her. "You have been reported for disturbing the peace," he accused.

"Well…okay, yes, I was calling for my friend, but-hey! Let me go!" the Red Lady protested as the cop began to drag her away. "Stop it! Let go of me!" But the cop did not respond.

"Okay, I'm really sorry about this, but-" Red touched his pulse point and emitted a dose of melatonin to knock the policeman out, but the policeman wasn't affected. "Wait a second," muttered Red. She clenched her eyes and blasted him with a mini EMP current. That did it. The cop fell over, non-operational.

Red knocked on his forehead. She could hear a metallic echo. "Another robot?! What the hell's goin' on here?"

"Red Lady!"

"There you are!"

"Uh oh," grimaced Red. She turned around to face the Doctor and the Master coming toward her.

"We've been looking for you everywhere, child," said the Master as they approached.

The Doctor looked around hawkishly. "Where's Clara?"

"Ah…Clara? Clara who?" said Red innocently.

The Doctor scowled. "Did you lose her?" he asked dangerously.

"Okay, before you get all Scottish grumpy-pants, you should know: the only reason I lost her is because I was protecting a lady from a psycho robot!"

"Red Lady…" sighed the Master, rubbing his forehead. "What is the Earth expression?...'You had one job.'"

"Okay, yeah, I goofed, but seriously, look!" Red kicked the policeman's side, making a metal bang. "_Robot!_"

"That is very odd," the Master remarked.

The Doctor, bending down to inspect the robot, pulled out his sonic sunglasses and put them out. "_He wears his sunglasses at night, so he can, so he can_," Red sang under her breath.

"No singing." The Doctor tapped the sides of his specs and scanned over the robot. "That's very odd," he murmured. "It's a robot alright. But in its chest, there's an inscription. 'Kafka Industries'."

"That's not the first robot that's attacked me, Doctor," said the Red Lady. "Look, something freaky-deaky is happening around here."

"You're right," said the Master as his husband stood up. "We'll find out what's going on."

"Okay! Let's go." The Red Lady made to head off.

"Oh, no, no, no," said the Doctor, grabbing the collar of her jacket to stop her. "You have another job to do: finding Clara."

"But…but I wanna be part of the Clue Crew, Freddy!" Red whined. "It's not fair you and Daphne get to have all the fun."

"Well then you shouldn't have lost Velma," the Doctor growled. "On the double. _Shaggy_."

Red harrumphed as the Time Lords left her behind in the darkness. "Hmph. I'm _totally_ Velma," she grumbled under her breath.


	9. Brick By Brick, Part 3

**Ayy, another bit for ya. Most of it is background info on the Red Lady, but hey, it's something.**

* * *

"Claaaaraaaaa," Red called into the night, squinting in the darkness. "Where are youuuuuuu? Come on, you wino – come out and play."

"Hello, Red Lady."

Red jumped a mile into the air. She whirled around to see the English teacher standing right behind her. "Jesus Christ on a corn dog, you scared the crap out of me," Red hissed. "Where've you been? And why aren't you drunk anymore?"

"I took a walk to clear my head. I was feeling sort of woozy, but I'm all fixed now."

"Well that's great," said Red, with a sigh of relief. "I thought the Doctor was going to feed me to the Eye of Rassilon. Come on, let's go back to the TARDIS and wait for them to come back."

"You don't know where they are?" said Clara incredulously.

"They went off sleuthing. You need to be careful, Clara. I've been assailed by two different robot men tonight," said Red. "Something weird's going on around here. But don't worry. Our Time Lords are on the case."

"Red. Do you really think that's wise?" Clara asked dubiously.

"What?"

"Letting the Doctor and the Master run off…by themselves…with no protection."

Red blinked. "Oh no. You're right. They're doomed without us. We better find them. But where could they be?"

"You said they were going after these robots, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Then it stands to reason they're headed to the place the robots came from."

"Kafka Industries," said Red. "You're a genius!"

Clara smirked, flipping her hair. "It has been said."

Red grabbed Clara's wrist. "Come with me. I think I might know someone who can help us get there."

* * *

Phoebos opened the door to them in surprise. "Oh! Hello."

"Hi, Phoebs. Can I call you Phoebs? Listen, we need to know where the thing that was pretending to be your husband came from," said Red. "Do you know of a place called Kafka Industries?"

"Oh yes," said Phoebos. "It's only the most prodigious electronics plant in the world. 'Ushering in the metamorphosis of technology, and life itself' – that's their motto."

"Great. Where's the nearest plant?"

"Oh, it's in the center of town. But at this time of night, it'll be shut down, surely," said Phoebos.

"That's not a problem for me," said Red assuringly. "Phoebs – they're the ones who replaced your husband. They built the robot."

"Oh no," breathed Phoebos. "But then...where's Tumnis?"

"My bet is, they have him. I think Kafka Industries might be abducting people and replacing them with robots. I don't know why, but I'll find out. Do you have a computer? I need to use it to find a map to this place."

"Sure. In here." Phoebos let the girls in.

"Okay, let's see…" Red sat at the computer – which thankfully wasn't too far off from Earth PCs – and found a schematics source. Soon she had a visual of a path from their location to the facility.

"Hmm," said Clara, looking over Red's shoulder. "You're pretty good with this."

"Eh. I try," said Red modestly. Then she noticed the logo on the computer monitor – Kafka Industries. "Huh. Figures." The map came up. "There it is. Clara, let's go," said Red, again grabbing the woman's wrist.

"But how will you get inside?" Phoebos asked.

Red grinned. "Just a little magic. Watch this." She looked at Clara. "Hold on tight. You might feel a slight tingle."

"Wha-" But a swarm of light particles was forming around them. Clara clung onto Red, and their aura flared as they blinked out of existence.

They reappeared instantaneously in a dark boiler room inside Kafka Industries. Clara quickly stepped away. "Whoa – what just happened?" she said.

"Teleport. Haven't you ever done it?"

"Sort of, but it wasn't like that. I used a Vortex Manipulator," said Clara. "I stole it from the Black Archive at UNIT to escape some Zygons."

"Ah, the Black Archive," said Red, smiling fondly. "Do they still have my sonic riding crop?"

"Your…what? No, I don't…I didn't see a riding crop, sonic or not," said Clara, flustered.

"I let them think they wipe my memory every time I visit, but it just doesn't work on me. I'm special," bragged Red.

"Yeah, the teleport thing – how does it work? You don't have a Vortex Manipulator, do you?"

The Red Lady laughed derisively. "The Time Lords obviously haven't told you much about me. What do you know so far?"

"Just that your name is the Red Lady, you're friends with the Doctor and the Master, and apparently you own a sonic riding crop."

"Used to own. But never mind that," said Red.

"So…are you human?" Clara asked tentatively.

Red barked a laugh. "Human as you, Brown Eyes." _That's what I used to call Darla. Stop that, it's not her!_

"But you said you're…'special'," said Clara.

Red sat down on a crate. "Yeah, that's right, I am. I guess I should start at the beginning. My dad died when I was 16-"

"I'm sorry."

Red shook her head. "He was a very bad man. Don't be. Anyway…I was at his funeral. My mom on one side of me, my grandmother on the other. The room was full of people, crying. I just couldn't handle their grief, knowing everyone in that room was sad but me. He was a…brute. A terrible human being. But he was my father. I couldn't be in that room for another minute, the guilt was too much. So I got up, and I calmly walked out…" Red sighed. "And then I _ran_. Ran right out of the funeral home. But when I went through the front door…something happened. I teleported – for the first time. Not just to a different place…or even a different time. To a whole other universe entirely." Red pointed to the ground beneath her. "This one."

"You're from another universe?"

Red nodded. "One where there is no Doctor or Master or TARDIS or Gallifrey…or even a Clara Oswald. But I knew of them – well, not _you_, exactly, but that's another story. One instant, I was stepping through the threshold of the funeral home. The next – I'm standing in the doorway of the TARDIS. There's a man standing at the console. Tall, blonde, wearing beige. Celery on his lapel."

"The Fifth Doctor," said Clara.

"Right. And another man, shorter, with dark and a goatee, wearing all black velvet."

"The Master."

"Yes. They greeted me casually, like they knew me. Well, I didn't know what to do. I had no idea what had just happened to me. I was scared to death. But I knew I could trust the Doctor and the Master…well, I could trust the Doctor."

Red and Clara both laughed. "But how did you know them if they weren't from your world?" Clara asked.

Red inhaled slowly. "That's the craziest part of all. You ever watched a movie…or read a book…and loved the characters in it? Loved them so much…you wished they were real?"

Clara sighed. "Robin Hood."

"Then you know what I mean."

"But he's real, though."

Red blinked. "What?"

"Robin Hood. The Doctor and the Master took me to Sherwood Forest, and I met him. Can you believe it? The Doctor swore up and down he was fictional. But he was real. I saw him with my very eyes."

"Huh. You don't say," remarked Red mildly. "I'll have to look into that some time. But…Clara, where I come from…it's a story."

"What, Robin Hood?"

"No. The Doctor is. The Master too. The TARDIS…you."

Clara was amazed. "Really?"

"It's my favorite," sighed Red dreamily. "A television program. _Doctor Who_. That's its title. Where I come from, it's all just a fantasy. But suddenly, it was all real, before my very eyes. I thought I'd gone mad."

Clara was quiet. "So I'm…a character? On a TV show?"

Red nodded. "In my world, yes. In yours, you're real. You're as real as…this crate. Or that boiler. Parallel universes. Don't think about it too hard. But you are very real."

"What did I do? On this show?"

"Joined the Doctor? Travelled in the TARDIS? I'm assuming. I never got to you."

"What do you mean, 'never got to me'?"

"You came along in the middle of series 7. I only watched up till the finale of 6. But it's hard to know anyway, the story I watched and what's actually happening is different."

"How is it different? What changed?"

Red smiled. "Me. I changed…everything. A new strain of reality. The Red Lady Chronicles, if you will. The Master, he was never meant to be good, you know. He's always been the Doctor's enemy. He's always loved him, but until me, they never could put aside their differences and be together."

"What, you played matchmaker?"

"Yep!" said Red proudly. "And they've had their ups and downs. But at least they aren't alone now."

"You rewrote the story," smiled Clara.

"A talking dragon once called me The Great Librarian of Time and Space. I suppose he was right. I've got quite a few stories collected in this here noggin." Red tapped her temple.

"But how did you end up in the TARDIS? And how did the Time Lords know you?" Clara asked.

"I told you, I accidentally teleported. Apparently, I've traveled up and down their timelines. They met me before I met them – and vice versa. We meet out of order. But I think I've finally got it worked out again – we're on the same linear path."

"And you teleport…how?"

Red smiled. "How indeed. Clara, I'm not what you'd call…normal."

"I can see that," Clara chuckled. "But how?"

Red shrugged. "I discovered that day I had…abilities. Abnormal talents. I can teleport from place to place, throughout time, even between universes – though it drains me. I also have some telepathic abilities – only through touch, however. Don't worry, I'm not reading your mind or anything. I can also manipulate matter – convert energy. I'm pretty much a big deal." Red sat back cockily.

"Wow," said Clara. "I…I am impressed."

"Thank you."

"Bit of a Mary Sue, though."

"I've been called that."

"One more question…" said Clara, biting her lip. "Where did you recognize me from?"

Red faltered. "Huh?"

"When we first met. You acted like you knew me from somewhere."

Red looked at her feet. "I can't quite explain that one. Someday. Maybe."

Clara nodded. "Fair enough. Um…shouldn't we be finding the Time Lords?"

Red gasped. "Yes! They must be somewhere out there! Come on." She and Clara crept out of the boiler room.

After darting through corridors and around corners, being wary of guards, they found themselves standing on a catwalk suspended over a large producing facility. Some scientists were milling around. Large, futuristic equipment was operating in the corners. There were people, asleep, under inspection from big machines.

"Look!" Red pointed down into the area at two figures lying in cradles, waiting to be scanned. "The Time Lords! We have to get down there to them, somehow."

"Oh don't worry. You'll be joining them very soon."

That was the last thing the Red Lady remembered hearing before something hard struck the back of her head, and she blacked out.


	10. Brick By Brick, Part 4

**Yes! I finally got this sh*t done. #osredforever**

* * *

The Red Lady awoke with a groan. "Ahh, that's gonna leave a bump," she mumbled as the spot where the Clarabot had smacked her throbbed. She blinked several times and looked around.

She was in a dark room, an office, and was tied to a hard wooden chair. She was flanked by the Time Lords on her left, and the real Clara on her right. The others were slowly waking up as well.

"You are not of this world," said a voice, and the Red Lady looked in the direction the sound had come. There was a large executive desk in front of them, and a man was sitting there, glaring at them.

Red grinned, despite her ringing headache. "You got that right, mate. Lemme guess. You're the leader of this outfit."

"I am Reinhart Blen. I own Kafka Industries."

"And you're the one who's replacing the people of this planet with robots," Red inferred.

"This race is flawed. Weak. I have made them better."

"Playing God," tsked Red. "Dangerous game."

"I am willing to risk it."

"You'll never get away with this," the Red Lady said. "Sooner or later, people _will_ get wise to you. They'll figure out what you've been doing to the populace and they'll shut you down."

"It will be too late. My creations will have replaced most of the people by then. Those remaining will be too weak to fight me, and they will submit to my master plan."

"Jesus, you sound like a third rate Bond villain, you know that?" said Red.

The Doctor groaned slightly. "What the hell's going on?"

Red nodded to Blen. "Psycho here's turning people into robots."

"Oh. Just like John Lumic in Pete Tyler's world."

"Basically," said Red, nodding.

"Well now, hear this, Mister…Creepy Eyes…Suit Wearing…Person…Thingy. I'm the Doctor, and this is the Master. The two of us and these ladies right here aren't people you want to go up against. End your plans now and we might be merciful."

"I will not," said Blen.

The Master sighed. "Someday, dear husband, you will realize that that is never going to work."

"Had to try." The Doctor looked at the Red Lady. "Okay, now!"

The Red Lady squeezed her eyes shut and an EMT wave shot out from her body. All throughout the building, the robots switched off. The lights went out and they were plunged in darkness.

"Okay, Clara. Your go."

With a small grunt, Clara pushed against the desk with her feet and pushed her chair backward, managing to break it into pieces, to where she was quickly able to untie herself.

_Damn_, the Red Lady couldn't help but think. _Now that's my kinda woman!_

Clara loosed the Doctor, then the Red Lady, then the Master. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and used it bring the lights back on. Reinhart Blen was slumped over in his chair. "Just as I thought – robot," said the Doctor. "The Master and I'll deal with him, then focus on finding a way to shut the robot army down permanently. Maybe there's a master kill switch somewhere. You girls go and find where they're holding the original templates they kidnapped. I can't imagine murder was in this guy's 'master plan'. And hurry, the EMT blast won't keep them incapacitated for long."

"You got it, chief," said the Red Lady, heading out with Clara.

"Don't call me 'chief'!" the Doctor called after her as they left.

* * *

The Red Lady and Clara found the people the Kafka Corporation kidnapped being held in cells in the lower levels of the building. "Please, let us out!" cried a man with midnight purple hair – Tumnis, Phoebos's lover. The real one.

"Don't worry, we're here to help you," said the Red Lady. "Does anyone know where the-"

"No one is to be released," said a duplicate voice behind them. Red and Clara whipped around.

A robot copy of the Red Lady was standing there. "Crap," said Red.

"You will be contained like all the other inferior beings," said Redbot, advancing on them.

Red stood in front of Clara. "You go find the control to let these people out. I'll handle Single White Female here."

As Clara dashed down the corridor of cells, searching for controls, Red got into a tussle with her robotic counterpart. Redbot picked her up by the throat and lifted her in the air. "Resistance is futile," said the robot.

"Yeah, and complacency is death," Red retorted chokingly. Red sparks of electricity shot from her fingers as she clutched the hand around her neck. In surprise, Redbot dropped her on the ground.

Red got to her feet. "What the hell? That should have knocked you out."

"Readings of your brain signatures revealed flaws in the original design of our species. Your attacks are only minorly damaging to my form. I am evolved."

"Oh great," said Red. "Then maybe I ought to turn up the voltage!" She let fly much harsher streams of energy from her palms at her bionic double.

The Redbot was blasted backward, but not much phased. "Readings indicate you do not contain the stamina to hold up such strong attacks for long. Surrendering is the most logical course of action."

"Ugh, shut up!" said Red, blasting her again.

* * *

The Master opened a door and peered inside. "Doctor, I've found the control room!" he called.

"Good," said the Doctor, joining his husband. "The robots will be coming back online any moment. We need to work fast." He sonicked the lights on.

The room was bordered with control panels. At the helm was a person sleeping in an office chair. "Robot guard," said the Master. "Better disable him before we do anything else. I'll lock the door."

"Aye." The Doctor went over to him and lifted his uniform shirt to locate the control center positioned in his stomach, when the man yelped and woke suddenly. "Oi, you dirty old man! You normally go around touchin' people when they's sleepin'?" he demanded.

"Old man?!" squawked the Doctor. "Now listen to me, you barmy bucket o' bolts-"

"Doctor, wait! He's alive!" said the Master, clutching his husband's bicep.

"Course I'm _alive_! I obviously ain't dead, am I then?"

"Who are you?" said the Doctor.

"I'm Gibby Blen," said the lad, pointing to his name badge. "I run security."

"Any relation to Reinhart Blen?" asked the Master.

"Yer. He was me dad."

"Was?"

"Yer. Till those nasty robots took him away and replaced him with an android. Said he was the first casualty in a war on the living. Said they were gonna extinguish the Feldspoonians, one person at a time, brick by brick, till the race was flawless. They agreed to let me live, for the time bein', so long as I didn't make no trouble and did me job as usual."

"Gibby, we're on the same side," said the Master. "We're here to stop them. We've already disabled the robot who replaced your father."

"You mean it?" said Gibby, wide-eyed with hope.

"Yes. Now we need your help. Is there a way to disable all the robots at once?"

Gibby laughed humorlessly. "Mr. Black and Red, dontcha think if there was, I'da done it by now? I don't know if no such action exists. But you seem like brainy gents. If you wanna take a look at me control panel, be me guest."

The Master nodded at the Doctor. "Quickly now. No time to lose."

* * *

Red yelped as she was thrown into the hard bars of a cell door. She crumpled to the ground, groaning in pain. The Redbot marched up to her prone figure and loomed over her. "Resistance is futile, inferior being. Surrender now before you are consigned to oblivion."

Red glared up at her, blowing a piece of her long red hair out her face. "Did you just fucking quote _Hamilton_ to me?" Suddenly, the Red Lady had a flash of inspiration. "Wait. You know _Hamilton_ because _I_ know _Hamilton_. But a Broadway musical from Earth shouldn't be important enough to a machine to remember far enough in depth to be able to quote. Unless…" The Red Lady grinned. "You've still got a bit of me left in you. Gotcha."

The Redbot stepped back. "You speak nonsense. I am pure machine."

"I don't think so," said Red, getting to her feet. "You remember things about my life. The good, the bad, the ugly. The things that make you laugh, the things that make you cry. You remember when Dad used to tell me how worthless I was, screaming at me for making tiny mistakes, locking me in my room, threatening to beat me, don't you."

"N-no," falted the Redbot, blinking rapidly.

"You remember how Mom cried when he died. You remember being at his funeral, feeling guilty for being happy that he was dead when it broke her heart." The Red Lady lunged forward and clasped her hands to the Redbot's temples. "And I bet you remember Darla," said Red softly, calling forth her memories from the robot's mind. A tear slipped down her cheek. "The first time you kissed her, touched her, when she died right in front of you. Holding her lifeless body in her arms, placing her on the funeral pyre, watching the love of your life go up in smoke-"

"NO, NO, NO!" screamed the Redbot, breaking down and collapsing on the ground. She looked up and oily tears leaked from her optic centers. Her inner circuitry started sparking as she blinked up at the Red Lady sorrowfully. "Could've – saved her – should have – been me – Darla – so alone now." _Zzzt. Zzzt_. "Hurts," cried the Redbot thickly.

"I know it does," said Red, her cheeks wet with saline tears of her own. "Let it hurt. _Feel_. Be human."

The Redbot sobbed miserably, completely destroyed.

* * *

"Doctor! I've figured out a way to shut down the system! We can overload the robots' mainframes, crash their systems!" said the Master triumphantly. "Hand me that screwdriver."

The Doctor grinned at him, handing it to him. "I have never been more attracted to you than I am right now."

* * *

The Redbot, brownish-black streaks of oil streaming down her face, looked back up at the Red Lady. "If this is being human…I do not want it. Turn it off. Make it stop!"

"Too late," said Red. "You can't turn off your emotions. No matter how hard you try."

Redbot sobbed hard, and her circuits sparked even more. "Then I shall turn me off." She choked, lifting her shirt, opening her stomach panel, and reaching inside herself to her CPU. As she prepared to do the deed, she softly sang, "_Raise a glass to freedom…_"

Then she yanked a fistful of her own wires out, immediately shut off, and crashed limply on the floor.

Suddenly, a loud alarm beeped, and all the cells began to open. The relieved prisoners streamed out of their cells and out of their prison.

In the factory, just as the robots were coming back on, the Master's handiwork took effect. Their inner working sparked and overload, and one by one, the robots were destroyed – even the ones out in the world.

The day was saved.

Clara found the Red Lady still standing in the center of the corridor, her back turned to her. "Red, I found the panel. We did it!...Red?"

The Red Lady slowly turned to her. Her eyes were red and tear-stained. "Oh my God, Red Lady, are you alright?"

Red didn't answer. She just threw her arms around the shorter girl and wept into her shoulder. Confused but concerned all the same, Clara hugged her comfortingly, rubbing her back. "It's okay. It'll all be okay," she said.

Red only cried harder.

* * *

Back in the TARDIS, after they'd left Feldspoon behind – with a large supply of wine from the President of the planet as a thanks for taking down the evil Kafka Industries – Red was lying on her bed in her room in quiet meditation. There came a soft knock on her door. "Red Lady?" said Clara's voice on the other side. "May I come in?"

"Yes, come in," said Red.

The English teacher let herself in. "You okay?"

Red nodded. "I think the crying thing's been building up for a while."

"What made you so sad?" Clara said. "If you don't mind me asking."

Red sighed and sat up. "I lost someone. Someone I loved. And all those feelings came rushing back during the fight with my robo-twin."

Clara sat down on her bed beside her. "I'm so sorry."

Red tried to smile. "Miss Oswald…_Clara_. I need to apologize to you. I acted hostile and mean to you because…you are the spitting image of my Darla. Your eyes, your skin, your voice…" Red's eyes skated down her body, then back up. She blushed. "Everything."

"I am?" said Clara.

Red nodded. "The Master told me about your adventure with the Doctor's timeline. How a million versions of got scattered throughout time and space. I think she was one of them."

"You…" Clara looked away, slightly flushing. "You fell in love with a copy of me?"

Red chuckled shyly. "Yeah. She was the love of my life. But she died. In a battle with some Daleks. Oh, she was so brave. You'd have been proud of her. She was…everything to me. I've been holding in my grief for so long…but it's okay. I'm okay now. I'm going to be okay."

Clara smiled. "Good. You know, I don't know a thing about you. The Doctor said you were old friends, but he didn't really elaborate."

The Red Lady smiled softly. "Well, why don't we try to get to know each other? Be friends." She stuck out her hand. "Hi. I am the Red Lady."


	11. Scarlet Letter, Part 1

**Part 1 of 4: "Scarlet Letter".**

* * *

_Welcome to another thrilling episode of…"Big Top"!_

A booming male voice was ringing from up above somewhere. Red slowly opened her eyes. "Huh…?"

_I am your host, the Ringmaster. And here are this week's performers!_

Red squinted as a bright white spotlight shone down on her. She was lying on dirt, in an otherwise dark room. Around her, the Doctor, the Master, and Clara, also lying on the ground, were slowly coming to. "Where are we?" Clara muttered.

_From the lost planet of Gallifrey, you know him as the Oncoming Storm, Merlin, and many other names. But he prefers the title the Doctor!_

The Doctor rose to his feet. "Where are we? Who's there?"

_Also from Gallifrey, he's wreaked havoc throughout the cosmos in the past, but nowadays he considers himself retired to a quiet life of domesticity on board the TARDIS with his husband. Audience, meet the Master!_

"Who's domestic?! I'll show you domestic!" the Master growled.

_Our third performer is an English teacher from the planet Earth. She likes baking, reading, and sword fighting. Standing at 5'2, Clara Oswald!_

"Doctor, _what_ is going on here?" Clara demanded.

"I don't know," said the Doctor, looking around.

_And lastly, our fourth performer is a bit of a mystery to us all. She's ginger, she's portly, and she's quite the little livewire! Give it up for the Red Lady!_

"Who the hell are you callin' portly, bub?!" Red snapped.

_You will pass through the seven rings of the circus, facing challenges both physical and mental. If you survive, you'll be allowed to leave the circus safely. Are you ready, performers?_

"No, we aren't! What's going on?!" shouted the Master.

_Too bad! The show must go on. Good luck!_

Trapdoors opened up beneath their feet. With cries of surprise, the four of them fell down into darkness.

* * *

"Doctor?"

"Master?"

"Clara!"

"Red Lady?"

The Doctor clicked on a flashlight he kept in his inner coat pocket. "Everyone alright?"

"Bit bruised, but no worse for wear," said the Red Lady, standing up and dusting herself off. "What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know," said the Doctor. "This all seems very familiar. Like I've been here before…"

"So what, we've been kidnapped and put on some reality game show?" Clara inquired.

"Would seem that way," said the Doctor. "Odd. Very familiar…"

"What's happened to the TARDIS?" said the Master.

"They must've taken it and hidden it somewhere. I reckon we'll find it at the end of the game."

"So we have to play, then," said Clara.

"Would seem so," the Doctor replied.

"'_If we survive_,'" the Master quoted the Ringmaster. "Remember?"

"What did he mean by 'challenges both physical and mental'?" Clara wondered.

"Good question," said Red, looking around. "Could we have some light on the subject?" Then, inexplicably, the lights in the chamber came up. "Ah. Thank…you."

The foursome was frozen in fear. They had been dropped into a room full of none other than Daleks.

The slumbering war machines were coming online. "A-LERT! A-LERT! IN-TRU-DERS! IN-TRU-DERS!" shouted one.

"TIME LORDS DE-TECT-ED!"

"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!"

"Get behind me!" Red shouted. She cast a force field in front of her as the other three cowered behind her. The Daleks' death rays rebounded off the field harmlessly.

"THIS FE-MALE HAS BI-O-LO-GI-CAL EN-HANCE-MENTS BE-YOND HER SPE-CIES!"

"MEM-OR-Y BANKS IN-DI-CATE PRE-VI-OUS EN-COUN-TERS WITH FE-MALE!"

"FE-MALE I-DEN-TI-FIED! IT IS THE RED LA-DY!"

"AN-NI-HIL-ESS OF OUR KINS-MEN!"

"_EX-TER-MIN-ATE!_"

"_Duck!_" Red screeched. The four of them got down as the Daleks fired. Red cast more force fields, deflecting the beams, but she couldn't keep it up forever.

"My sonic's not working!" the Doctor said, smacking it against his palm.

"Neither is my laser!" added the Master.

"Look, a door!" Clara said, pointing across the room.

It was a doorway big enough for them to fit through, but too small for a Dalek. It was their only way out. "If we can just make it through this field of Daleks, we'll be safe," said the Master.

"Okay. When I say run, _run_!" The Doctor led his team through the Daleks, jumping, weaving, and ducking death beams. They finally reached the other side of the room and made it through the door, panting, hearts pounding. The doorway closed behind them, and they were in a small, empty chamber with only a torch on the wall for light.

"There," sighed Red. "Wasn't so hard, was it?"

Clara looked at her. "Are you mad?"

"Little bit," admitted Red, nodding.

_Congratulations! You passed the first ring! But that was only one level. They won't all be that easy._

"Easy?!" the Master repeated incredulously.

A door opened up before them. _You now move onto the next ring. Please advance forward to face the next stage._

"And suppose we refuse?" said the Doctor.

_Then you'll stay right here forever._

"Umm…anyone for advancing?" Red asked.

"I am," said Clara, raising her hand.

Reluctantly, the foursome moved forward into the next ring. The door closed behind them.


	12. Scarlet Letter, Part 2

**Mwahahaha! I'm such an evil author. :)**

* * *

"Seven levels," said Red quietly. "That was level one. Six more to go."

Clara shivered and rubbed her arms. "Is it just me or it chilly in here?"

Cold electric blue lights came on. The foursome looked around them, nervous.

"Cybermen," the Doctor whispered through gritted teeth.

The walls on either side of them were lined with the metal foot soldiers. They seemed dormant.

"Why are they asleep?" said Red.

"It's a trap," said the Master. "It must be."

"Not much of a challenge, is it?" Clara scoffed.

"Do you hear something?" asked the Doctor.

They froze, listening intently. Tiny little metallic taps against the clinical white floor.

"Like...little feet," said Clara. "Like army ants."

"They're getting louder," Red remarked.

The Master corrected her. "They're getting _closer_."

Clara gasped. "Cybermites!"

From behind the sleeping Cybermen, tiny metal bugs were crawling toward them.

"They'll try to turn you into Cyber-drones! Don't let them!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"How?!" Red exclaimed.

The Master stomped on one with his Italian shoe. "Smash them!"

Red, the Doctor, the Master, and Clara crushed the the mites underneath their shoes as they came in waves. But they were so small, and so quick, and so many, it was hard to keep track of them all.

Clara shrieked as one crawled up her leg. She flicked her leg and the mite went flying into the far wall. "This won't work forever! We need a better plan!"

"My sonic's no good!" the Doctor reminded her.

"Red Lady! Can't you do something?"

"Sorry, Brown Eyes. They're impervious to my electro blast...but..." Red flattened out her palms toward the floor. Her hands glowed red hot. Extreme heat radiated from them, melting the bugs down into harmless puddles of metal on the floor as soon as they got close. Red grinned. "You know what they say. If you can't handle the heat-"

"DUCK!" Clara shouted, pulling Red to the floor. The Cybermen had awoken, and were now shooting at them.

"_You resist conversion to the illustrious Cyberman race. You are imperfect. You are an infection. You will be deleted_," recited the metal troops together, as one perfect unit.

"Door's open at the far end!" the Doctor cried, pointing at their means of escape.

"We'll never make it through their cannon fire!" exclaimed the Master.

Clara knocked over the Cyberman at the end of the row. It fell into its neighbor and knocked it over, which knocked over the next one...the whole row toppled like giant dominoes.

"Oh, clever girl!" grinned the Doctor, following her example with the other row. The Cybermen were so busy trying to get to their feet, it gave the foursome time to get away.

They made it safely into the next interim chamber. Red grinned at the other three. "We're not doing too badly! We might just win this thing. I wonder if there's some kind of cash prize."

_An excellent idea, Red Lady_, came the Ringmaster's voice. _Perhaps we'll take your suggestion into consideration for future episodes. Well, congratulations, performers. You've all done well up to now. But you'll find that the game will be changing for you in this next round._

"Do your worst!" Red challenged. "We can handle anything you throw at us!"

_Careful, Red Lady_, warned the Ringmaster slowly. _Pride is one of the seven deadly sins, you know. And you know your hubris has gotten you in trouble before. As has your wrath._

Red froze at that. She shared a look with Clara. "What do you mean?" Red asked the Ringmaster.

_Never mind that now. It's time for the third ring! Your next challenge is waiting for you ahead._ A door opened in front of them. _Please proceed_.

The foursome moved into the next level.

The Dalek room had been a stone dungeon with a sandy floor and torch lit walls. The Cyberman chamber had been a white walled room with dim, fluorescent blue-white lights. This room was...

"It's the Great Hall!" Clara exclaimed in delight.

"It is!" Red agreed, grinning ear to ear.

"The what?" the Master asked.

"From _Harry Potter_!" Clara answered.

"Except smaller, obviously," said Red.

"And only one table," Clara added.

"But there's floating candles, just like in the movies!"

"And the ceiling looks like the sky! Oh, it's night time. How lovely, look at the stars!"

"Oh, green and silver banners. Someone's a Slytherin."

"I'm a Ravenclaw," said Clara.

"Ooh, me too!" Red agreed. "Except sometimes I get Gryffindor."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" the Master exclaimed.

Red and Clara looked at each other and grinned. "_Muggle_," they said at the same time, then laughed.

"Well, it's a dining hall, whatever it is," said the Doctor, inspecting the serving dishes arranged decadently on the long table. "But where's the food? What's being served at the feast?"

"The feast, my delectable ones, is _you_," said a voice.

The foursome looked up at once.

A great, ugly, greenish blob creature had appeared at the head of the table.

"It's an Abzorbaloff!" the Doctor declared.

The Master looked around. "We're trapped!"

Clara grabbed a butter knife. "We'll fight it off then."

"No," said the Doctor, holding her back. "Don't go anywhere near that thing. One touch and it'll swallow you up. Take you into itself by absorbing you into its skin."

Clara shuddered. "Gross."

The Abzorbaloff was licking its lips with its long, slobbery tongue, sizing up its prey. "Decision, decisions. I think I'll have the older gents as my appetizers. The fat one will serve nicely as my main course; her meat will be so plump, so tender, so juicy. And the pretty one I'll save for dessert. The little ones are always the sweetest."

"What do we do?" Clara squeaked as the Abzorbaloff slowly stalked toward them, cornering them against the wall.

"Whatever you do, do _not_ let it touch you. Not even for an instant," the Doctor said.

"It's slow, not very agile. We can easily outrun it," the Master whispered.

"But where do we run?" Red asked. "We're locked in with that thing!"

The Master eyed an emerald curtain on the wall. "Well we're not going down without a fight!" he declared, ripping the drape down and throwing it over the monster. In the creature's confusion, the gang was able to break away.

The Abzorbaloff growled, untangling himself from the heavy fabric. "Hungry!" he snarled, coming after them.

Clara grabbed a vase from the table and threw it at him. It smacked him right in the face.

"Up here!" Red tugged her up onto the table. She looked at the Doctor. "You've fought one of these before. What's its weakness?"

"The one I fought before was using a stasis field to keep its form. But that was because the Earth's atmosphere had a negative effect on the thing's bio-makeup. We're not on Earth now."

Red formed a small red ball of lightning in her palm. "This'll knock the frosting off him." She lobbed it at him.

But the energy did no harm. Red looked disheartened. "Okay. Let's heat things up then!" She tossed a fireball at him. Still no effect.

"It's no good, Red Lady," said the Doctor, grabbing her arm. "He's rubber _and_ glue. Whatever we do bounces off him-"

"Everything has a weakness, Doctor!" said Red insistently. "I'll try everything in my bag of tricks if I have to!"

"We need to focus on escaping," the Master stressed. "If we can just hold out till the exit appears, we can-_dahhhhhhh_!"

"Master!" exclaimed the other three in horror as the Abzorbaloff engulfed their friend. The Abzorbaloff had climbed up onto the table with them while they'd been distracted and had grabbed the Master's shoulder.

The Master's face appeared in the lower right of the thing's belly. The Doctor stared at his lover in horror. "Koschei," he whispered brokenly.

"Theta," the Master said back in sorrow.

The Abzorbaloff grinned nastily at the remaining three. "You're next."

The three jumped from the table and scrambled away from the monster.

"Acid!" said Red. "Acid could kill it!"

"Acid could kill the Master too!" the Doctor shouted angrily.

"I'm just thinking!" Red shouted in anguish.

"The exit!" the Master shouted from the monster's stomach. "It's there, at the end of the hall!"

Red grabbed the Doctor's hand. "We have to go."

"I'm not leaving the Master!"

"There's nothing we can do now!" Red said. "We'll be swallowed too if we don't go right now! Let's go!"

The Doctor reluctantly allowed himself to be dragged to the exit, Clara bringing up the rear. The Abzorbaloff was right on her heels, but Clara knocked over a chair, causing it to trip and fall onto its front.

"Oomph!" the Master cried as his face was buried in the carpet.

Just as they were crossing the threshold, the Doctor and the Red Lady heard a sharp screech behind them. They whipped around.

The Abzorbaloff had caught Clara by the ankle.

"_Noooooooooo_!" Red cried.

The last word on Clara's lips before she was consumed, with fear in her bright brown eyes, was, "_Run_."

The Doctor pulled Red through the doorway, and it closed behind them, the last thing in Red's sight was Clara being totally absorbed.


	13. Scarlet Letter, Part 3

**Longer chapter :) Reviews please? (if anyone's reading this) 3 3 3**

* * *

The Red Lady whirled around to look up at the ceiling. "Give us back our friends!" she shouted angrily.

_Sorry, Red Lady_, said the Ringmaster, not sounding sorry at all. _You know the rules._

"We don't want to play your stupid game anymore!" Red growled, her hands clenching into fists. "We want to go back to our ship!"

_You'll be returned to your ship once you've completed the remaining four rings._

"Sod your bloody rings!"

_Ah, ah, ah_, chided the Ringmaster. _Mind your language. We're on live TV. If you swear, you'll be punished._

"This is ludicrous," the Doctor declared. "We didn't sign up for this. We were abducted and forced into playing your asinine little game. Give us back the Master and Clara or I swear, you will understand firsthand what 'the Oncoming Storm' really means."

_You really believe you scare me, Doctor?_ sneered the Ringmaster. _I don't think you understand your position. I am in control. The both of you are at my mercy. The two of you will pay for your sins, I'll see to that. Now go._ The door ahead of them opened. _If you ever wish to make it out of here, you'll play along. And if not…well, you might very well suffer the same fate as your precious companions. Run along now, performers._

"We don't have a choice, do we," Red said to the Doctor hollowly.

The Doctor swallowed. "Come on," he whispered, moving forward.

* * *

The next "ring" was unlike the others. The doors before had led directly into rooms with obstacles to be defeated. But this was a long, dark hallway, seemingly stretching on and on.

"What is this supposed to be?" Red said.

"I don't know," the Doctor replied, pulling out his flashlight and switching it on. "But I guess we better keep going if we want to find out."

They trod through the dark corridor for several minutes in silence. Finally, Red said, "Are we getting any closer to…anything at all?"

"Hard to say," the Doctor answered, squinting ahead. "This darkness is impenetrable."

"What if this tunnel is endless?" Red said. "What if it just goes on forever and ever and ever?"

"In all my time of living, I've found that nothing goes on forever," said the Doctor. "Everything ends eventually."

"Don't get existential on me right now, Doctor," said Red. "I'm not in a good place psychologically."

"When are you ever?"

Red laughed humorlessly. Then, after a second, she spoke up. "Hey, Doctor. I think I've just figured something out."

"What's that?"

"The rings…they're following a pattern."

"Oh? Are they?"

"Well, I was just thinking about the things the Ringmaster has said. 'You'll pay for your sins'. 'Your pride and wrath have gotten you in trouble'."

"Yeah, so?"

"I think…the challenges are based on the seven deadly sins."

"The seven deadly…oh, right. The Ringmaster mentioned them. What are they again?"

"Lemme see…wrath. I think that was the Daleks – they wanted to kill you and me because we've killed their kind before. Then there's pride – that was the Cybermen. They're always going on and on about what a perfect race they are. Then the Abzorbaloff was obviously gluttony. It eats and eats; it's never satisfied."

"Interesting theory," said the Doctor. "I think you're right. But what are the other four?"

"Umm…I can't remember," said Red. "But I guess we'll find out."

"Yes…if we ever reach the bloody end of this corridor," said the Doctor gruffly. "Is there a deadly sin for annoyance?"

"I don't know," said Red, sighing. "But I'm getting tired from all this trekking around."

"Me too-look!" said the Doctor, pointing. "Up ahead. I see a light."

"Oh, awesome!" Red exclaimed, speeding up.

They found the end of the tunnel which led into a warm, lowly lit chamber with two fair sized, comfortable beds on either side of the room.

Red inhaled deeply through her nose. "Do you smell that?"

"Aye," said the Doctor, smiling a rare, content smile. "Smells like fresh baked bread and cinnamon."

Red hummed and stretched her arms. "Do you suppose there's a time limit to this challenge?"

"The Ringmaster didn't say so…" The Doctor yawned.

The Red Lady rubbed her eyes. "Well we have these lovely beds here, and I'm _so_ tired. Do you think we could take a nap?"

"I don't see the harm in that," the Doctor agreed. He slipped off his shoes and crossed to the bed on the right side on the room.

Red slipped her leather jacket from her shoulders and let it fall to the ground. She kicked off her shoes and climbed into the other bed.

"Just a short nap," said the Doctor drowsily. "And then we'll finish the game."

"Yep," sighed Red, already drifting off. "Just a…short…"

She was asleep.

And then she was being shaken awake urgently. "Red, get up! Get up right now!"

"What? What izzit?" Red said groggily.

"Red, we can't go to sleep in here!"

"Leave me alone!" Red said stubbornly, trying to bury herself in the covers.

"Red, wake up!" the Doctor shouted.

"No!"

"It's the Winklerip flowers, Red! They'll put you to sleep forever!"

"Huh?" Red mumbled in the pillows.

"The smell! I recognized it! It's Winklerip flowers! From the planet of Irvington! There's Winklerip pollen in here that's making you drowsy. You have to get up right now!"

"Why?" moaned Red.

"Red, if you stay asleep for too long under the Winklerip flowers' influence, you die! It's slow acting poison! Get up, get up right now!"

"Just let me sleep," Red said, rolling over. "I don't care about dying. Just wanna sleep."

The Doctor sigh. "I'm really sorry about this, Red Lady."

Suddenly, the bed was flipped on its side and Red was dumped on the hard ground abruptly. "Hey!" Red shouted angrily, glaring up at the Doctor.

"Come on, we have to get you out of here. You don't have respiratory bypass like me, and even I won't last forever. Come on, we have to find the way out of here!"

Red stood up, wavering like a drunken person. She looked around. "There's the exit." She pointed across the room. "But it's closed."

"There must be a way to open it," said the Doctor, inspecting it closely.

"Shouldn't we try to find the source of the pollen and destroy it?"

"Good idea. Can't have you passing out again."

"Mm." Red was already dropping off again. She shook her head vigorously to wake herself up. She walked around, looking for where the pollen could be hiding. When she came around to the other side of the overturned bed, she gasped. Under the bedframe, there was a box of small, lavender, alien flowers. "They're under the beds! The Winklerip flowers! How do we kill them?"

"Fire generally kills plant life," the Doctor remarked from over by the door..

"You got it." Red generated a fireball and scorched the flowers. They wilted into ash. Red could feel the air immediately clear up some, but not completely. "There must be flowers under your bed too." Red went over to the other bed, lifted it, and burned the flowers she found there too. The pollen lingered in the air, but it was thinned enough now to where it didn't have a dire effect on the Red Lady. She was still a little fuzzy, but she could now function properly.

The door opened, to the Doctor's surprise. "I didn't do that," said the Time Lord.

"No," said Red. "We solved the puzzle. That's what did it. Come on, let's go."

They moved through the door and it closed behind them.

_Congratulations_, said the Ringmaster. _Hope that ring wasn't a…snooze for you._

"So that was sloth, wasn't it," said Red. "Wrath, pride, gluttony, sloth. What's the next challenge?"

_That would be telling_, the Ringmaster answered smugly. _Why don't you move on and find out?_

"Fine," said the Doctor, gritting his teeth. "I just want to get this over with." He and the Red Lady went through the open door in front of them.

* * *

The room was completely black. "Dark room again," sighed Red.

The Doctor tried to switch on his torch, but it merely flickered. "Batteries running out."

Red lit up a fireball in her palm and the room was illuminated. She screamed.

A mere inch from her face, there was a stone hand outstretched to touch her, extending from none other than a Weeping Angel.

"Don't blink!" the Doctor shouted.

"I'm not!" Red said, trembling.

The room was full of them, all frozen in their advancement of their new prey.

"What is this sin?" the Doctor said.

"Umm…" Red swallowed. "Greed, I think. The Angels steal time energy and they never stop. They can never be sated, no matter how many victims they take."

"Keep your eyes on them. Keep the flame burning, no matter what."

Red gulped. "Just call me Lady Liberty."

Without taking his eye off the statues, the Doctor pulled an unlit torch from the wall and ignited it with the Red Lady's flame. "There's a door on the other side of the Angels," he said softly. "All we have to do is make it to the other side of the room and we're home free."

"Okay," said Red, appearing to push her terror down. "Let's go."

Attempting to keep their eyes everywhere all at once, Red and the Doctor cautiously edged through the mass of Angels. They were about half way through the room when a sudden gust of wind blew out the torch.

With an anxiously little cry, Red quickly lit up another fireball. The Angels had turned in the brief half-second toward them. One had its hand was gripping Red's shoulder.

"Doctor," the Red Lady whimpered. "One of them's got me."

"Just slip out of its grip," the Doctor said in a calming voice. "It can't hurt you as long as we can see it."

Red carefully maneuvered out of the Angel's hold and inched away until she was standing at the door with the Doctor. They stepped into the interim room and the door closed behind them.

The Red Lady let out a shaky breath. Her heart was beating thunderously. "I've always been afraid of those things."

"So have I," the Doctor agreed. He looked up at the ceiling. "Well, Ringmaster? Nothing to say?"

_Only that you've done very well,_ said the Ringmaster. _So well, in fact, that I think you deserve a treat._

"A treat?" said Red suspiciously.

_Yes. It's in the next room. Why don't you go and…enjoy it?_ There was a bit of smirk to the Ringmaster's voice.

"This is probably a trick," the Doctor murmured.

"Most definitely," the Red Lady agreed. "But we won't fall for it. Come on." They went inside…

…and found the sloth room with the beds again.

"Huh? Did we accidentally go back?" said Red, puzzled. She turned to look at the Doctor, but he'd disappeared. A wall had appeared, closing off half the room.

"Doctor?!" the Red Lady ran over to the wall and smacked her palm against it. "Doctor, can you hear me?"

The door on the other side of the room opened. Red whipped around. "Clara!" she exclaimed.

There the English teacher stood, perfectly fine. "You're alive!" Red said. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm great," said Clara with a smile.

"Well, that's…great," said Red, smiling, but a little confused. "Well, I guess we can get out of here then."

"Oh, we don't have to leave right away," said Clara, leaning against the end of the bed.

Red's eyebrows scrunched together. "What do you mean? Clara, we have to get out of here!"

"Come on, Red Lady," said Clara, coming over to her. Red looked down in surprise as Clara took hold of her hand. Her thumb traced light circles onto her soft skin.

Clara looked at Red with decided bedroom eyes. "Don't you want to enjoy your treat?"

Red's stomach fluttered. "Uh oh…this is lust."


	14. Scarlet Letter, Part 4

**Again, I am an evil author. (:C**

* * *

The Red Lady wondered briefly if the Doctor was in a similar position with the Master in the parallel room. Then she remembered that _Clara_ was standing right in front of her, holding her hand, wanting to…to…to…

"Clara, I'm…flattered, but we have got to get out of here." Red tried to get out of Clara's grasp.

"Oh, but there's no harm," Clara insisted, cupping the back of Red's neck with her hand, stroking the soft, sensitive skin where her long red hair grew. Red squirmed – but as much as she wasn't supposed to, she liked it. "We're totally fine here. Just you, and me…and this big comfy bed."

"Clara, what about your _boyfriend_?" Red gasped.

"Danny never has to know a thing," Clara said, staring into Red's eyes with her own, deep, brown, heavy-lidded ones. Her pupils were enlarged and Red could see her own nervous reflection in them. "Come on, Red Lady. Just one kiss?"

Red tried to put space between them, as Clara leaned forward to kiss her. Red gulped. "Clara, I'm really sorry about this – but." She slapped Clara's face.

Clara immediately snapped out of it. She looked at Red with furious brown eyes. "What the _hell_?!" She punctuated the last word with a return slap of her own.

"Sorry," said Red, touching her smarting cheek. "You were under some kind of influence. You were trying to…to…to…"

"To what?" Clara said.

Red's eyes flicked over to the bed pointedly.

Clara raised an eyebrow, followed her gaze, then blushed, understanding. "Oh. Sorry."

"Uh, it's…fine. It's all fine," Red said, her face flushed crimson. "Clara, you were basically dead. I saw the Abzorbaloff eat you!"

"I remember that," said Clara. "I remember it grabbing my ankle, me telling you to run, and then the next I knew, you were slapping my face." She kind of gave Red a glare.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Would you have preferred we _molest_ each other?" Red sniped back.

Clara sighed. "No."

"Didn't think so. Besides, you slapped me way harder than I did you." Red suddenly gasped. "Wait! If you're here, then the Master must be alive too! Do you know where he is?"

"No idea. Like I said, I don't remember anything."

Red noticed that a door had appeared in the middle of the bisecting wall. "Come on. They're in here."

"Er, you really wanna walk in on _that_?" Clara said incredulously.

Red grimaced. "It's happened more times than I care to think about."

Sure enough, when Red entered the room, the Master indeed had the Doctor pinned to the bed and was kissing the life out of him. Apparently, the Doctor had decided to go with it.

"Oh God." Clara mimed barfing.

Red sighed. "Desperate times call for desperate measures." She pointed her fingers at them. Two sparks of static electricity flew through the air and hit the amorous Time Lords.

They yelped simultaneously and leapt up. The Master looked livid. "What the hell was that?!" Then he blinked and looked around. "Where am I? And why are my pants unzipped?"

The Doctor turned red.

"Never mind that now, Master. You're safe," Red said.

"Yeah, but what about my eyes?" Clara groused.

Red rolled her eyes at her. "Come on. Let's finish the last level and get the hell out of here." She led the way toward the exit.

* * *

Once they all had gone through the door, it shut behind them.

The Master looked up at the ceiling expectantly. "Well?" he said. "No snarky narration?"

But he was only met with silence.

The four looked at each other, mystified and a little spooked.

"I remembered what the last deadly sin is," Red piped up quietly.

"What's that?" the Doctor whispered.

Red swallowed. "Envy."

"So what are we facing?" the Doctor wondered aloud. "A green eyed monster?"

"Guess we're about to find out," Red said.

The door opened before the four of them.

The Red Lady, the Doctor, the Master, and Clara all looked at each other, nodded, and proceeded into darkness.

Bright spotlights came on in the dark room. The four travelers squinted at first, then their eyes adjusted. "We're back where we started," said the Master, looking around.

They were standing on the dirt-strewn floors of the arena they'd awoken in.

"My sonic's working again," said the Doctor, pulling out his screwdriver. He took a quick scan of the area. "Artificial gravity – we're in space…and nothing's being broadcast."

"But I thought this was a live reality show," said Clara. "Or least, that's what the Ringmaster made it sound like."

Suddenly, there was a mechanized noise, and around the room, the wall was open to reveal a picture window that formed a ring all around them, giving them a view of the outside - space.

"We're on a satellite," said the Master.

Red looked out. There was a burnt-out planet below them. "That's Earth," she recognized, with a twinge in her stomach. "Earth in the far future. After all the people have gone."

"I knew this place was familiar," the Doctor hissed, studying the stars. "This is Satellite Five. I was here before, with Rose Tyler. Last I saw, the Daleks had taken it over. But Rose destroyed them."

"That explains how the Ringmaster abducted us," the Master said.

The Doctor shook his head. "No. I've done work on it since then. It's everything-proof. The only thing could break into the TARDIS is me."

"Then how did we get taken?" Red questioned.

"I don't know," said the Doctor, again scanning with his screwdriver. "But this station is dead. We're floating over a lifeless Earth, broadcasting nothing. The only lifeforms in this whole place are us…and one other."

"The Ringmaster," Clara supplied.

"But where is he? And where's the challenge?" said Red, looking around.

_Clara Oswald_, came the Ringmaster's ringing voice from up above. _You are exempt from the final ring. Please proceed inside the TARDIS._ A floodlight came up on the comfortingly familiar blue box.

"Quick, everyone!" said the Master. "Inside!"

But suddenly cages sprang up out of the ground around the Doctor, the Master, and the Red Lady. Only Clara remained freed.

_You've made it so far. Do you really want to give up now?_ asked the Ringmaster.

"Yes! We know we're not on television!" Red shouted. "The game is over!"

_You're right. But the trial has only just begun._

Red lights shone down on the Doctor, the Master, and the Red Lady. Blown up projections of capital letter Ms on all three of them.

"What is this?" the Master demanded.

"It's a scarlet letter," said Red suddenly, in a flat tone of voice.

"What?"

"There's an Earth book, called _The Scarlet Letter_, by Nathanial Hawthorne. It's about a Puritan society that forces the impious to wear scarlet letters to display their sins to the world."

"So what's the M stand for?" Clara asked.

Red swallowed. "…'murderer'."

The room got very quiet.

Red looked upward. "So we're on trial, is that it?" she asked the disembodied voice. "We've paid for our sins, believe me. We are _still_ paying for our sins. And I'm not letting some person hiding behind a curtain pass judgment on me when he won't even show me his face."

"I don't understand," said the Master. "Obviously the Doctor and I are guilty, and Miss Oswald is exempt because she's never killed a person. But Red Lady, why are you…"

Red looked at him in shame.

The Master's eyebrows knit in realization. "Oh," he said quietly.

"It was an accident," said Red bleakly. "I was…upset. And I lost control of my powers for a second. Wiped out a Dalek battalion…my fellow soldiers…and an entire village of innocent Gallifreyans."

"I remember hearing of that," said the Master, still in awe. "The Massacre of Westmorland, they called it. Two hundred killed in the Time War by raw archon energy. The High Council believed it was some kind of bomb the radicals had developed during the war effort. That was _you_?"

Red nodded silently.

"I didn't even know you were in the Time War," said the Doctor, his tone accusing. "You said you weren't allowed there."

Red swallowed. "It was an accident."

"You said you couldn't interfere."

"_I didn't!_" Red shouted. "I got stuck! I never wanted to hurt anyone!"

"_You lied to me!_ You slaughtered those people!"

"Oh, you act like you're so high and mighty!" Red snapped tearfully. "You killed the entire Time Lord race!"

"I locked them away! What you did was reckless, mindless-!"

"You let him burn up on Sarn!" Red exclaimed, pointing at the Master. "And you let Adric die when you could have easily gone back and saved him from that exploding ship! _I'm_ the one who saved their lives! And what about Adelaide Brooke? Or Astrid from the _Titanic_? People die because your mistakes all the time, so don't you dare get self-righteous with me when we both have committed atrocities beyond mentioning!"

"That is enough, _stop it_!" Clara shouted at the both of them. "Don't you see what the Ringmaster's doing to us? He's turning us against each other! We need to stay united against him."

_I'm not the villain here, Miss Oswald_, said the Ringmaster from on high. _As you can see, these three are the ones who are the real monsters. The Doctor and the Red Lady, career meddlers with affairs they have no business being involved with, which usually gets innocents killed. And the Master has gleefully murdered countless for his purposes._

"It's true, I have," said the Master, uncaringly.

"You know what I think?" said the Red Lady. "I think this Ringmaster is just a man. A man who's somehow _envious_ of us. He's set up these sadistic games to torture us and take the TARDIS for himself. But he didn't realize that while we were distracting him with our arguing, the Doctor's been comprising the metal of his cage the entire time."

"And now I'm free!" said the Doctor, kicking his door open.

_What? No!_

"You think you're so slick," said the Red Lady, as the Doctor let her out of her cage. "But the truth is, we're smarter than you. We're stronger than you. And we're probably better looking too. Whoever, whatever you are – you can never win." Red came out of her cage and took Clara's hand. "Come on, Clara. Let's get out of here."

The Ringmaster growled. _Well, Doctor. It seems you've bested me again. But I can take one last thing from you._

Suddenly, the ground split under the Master's feet, and the fissure it left emitted a bright white light.

The Doctor gasped. "No!"

The tendrils of light grabbed on to the Master. "Doctor!" the Time Lord cried. He was sucked into the crack and vanished.

"NO!"

"What the hell was that?" said Red, aghast.

"Get to the TARDIS, quickly!" the Doctor shouted.

The three of them raced inside. The Doctor locked the doors behind them and began madly flipping switches on the console. The TARDIS was sent in the Vortex. "What was that glowy thing?!" Red exclaimed.

"Cracks in the universe!" the Doctor yelled. "They were supposed to be closed, but the Ringmaster must've found a way to open them again! Now the Master's been erased from existence!"

"Who's the Master?" asked Clara, her head cocking to the side.

"Clara, no! It's starting!" The Doctor rushed over to her and shook her by the shoulders. "Think hard!" he ordered. "You can't let yourself forget him. THINK!"

"Think about what?" the Red Lady said in confusion.

"Red, not you too! You can't forget. Please, try to remember…" The Doctor hesitated, not quite sure what he was talking about. "Remember…"

"Remember what, Doctor?" Clara prompted.

"Ko…" The Doctor trailed off. It was on the tip of his tongue, but the memory faded quickly. "Huh. I don't know." The Doctor shrugged. "Hm! Oh well. Come on, girls. Let's get some ice cream. I know the best parlor in the universe."

"Yes please!" Red and Clara said in unison, grinning.

The Doctor smiled, setting the coordinates.


	15. Red Wasp, Part 1

**Alright-y, since I know y'all are burning to know what becomes of the Master...how about a story that has nothing to do with him? Mwahahahaha! **

* * *

_Terminus Medical Vessel, the year 3486_

"Mistress Nyssa?"

The head of staff looked up from the paperwork on desk. "Yes, Guula? What is it?"

"You have a visitor," said the secretary, opening the door of the office to let Nyssa's visitor in.

The girl strode in, grinning ear to ear. "Hello, Nyssa."

"Red Lady," said Nyssa, standing up to hug her old friend.

Red laughed. "Aw, look at you, Nyssie. All grown up. The Doctor'd be so proud of you."

"How is he?" Nyssa asked as they sat down.

"Oh, pretty good. He's regenerated several times. The latest one is old and Scottish. I don't think you'd like him too much, he can be a bit inconsiderate sometimes. Not as fluffy as the blonde one. So, what prompted you to call me?" asked Red, crossing her legs and sitting back.

"Well...you see, I have this one patient. He has all these terrible headaches. We've given him all the high-technology scans, herbal remedies, heavy duty drugs, even cranial acupuncture. Nothing works. So I guessed that the problem must be on a psychic level-"

"So you need a telepath," Red supplied. "Why not call the Doctor?"

"Well, I hardly know how to reach him, and besides, it seemed like such a small problem to bother him with."

"I understand." Red stood up. "I'll be glad to check him out."

"Oh, will you? That's wonderful!" Nyssa lead her out of the office. "He's in Room 346. Let's go and see him."

* * *

"My, Nyssa, just look at all the amazing work you've done here," said Red, looking around the halls of the _Terminus_ facility, impressed. "This place has really improved from that terrible drab leper ship it used to be."

"Thank you," said Nyssa, blushing happily. "The Doctor and the culture of Traken always believed in the value of life. The former passengers of _Terminus_ were treated worse than prisoners - I should know - and when I decided to stay here, I made it my mission to reform this ship, and turn it into a sanctuary for the sick and in pain."

Red nodded appreciatively. "Mission accomplished."

Nyssa smiled. "It's this way." She pointed to a door on their right and headed into it, the Red Lady right behind her.

"Good afternoon, Hussef," said Nyssa, entering the patient's room. "And how are we feeling today? Better?"

"Worse, if anything," the patient groaned, rubbing at his temples. He was a great fat man, with a bald head, curly mustache, and mutton chop beard, and he appeared to be in excruciating agony.

"Poor thing," said Nyssa, clicking her tongue sympathetically. "Don't worry, Hussef. I've brought you someone who can help."

"Oh?" Hussef rolled over on his engorged belly and spotted the Red Lady. "Are you a doctor?"

"No," said Red, a smile playing on her lips. "But I do work with one on occasion."

"Can you do anything for this terrible headache?" he asked, looking at her pitifully.

"I can try. I'm going to take a look inside your mind, Mister Hussef. Now, I must ask you to relax. Pretend like you're taking a nap. But don't fall asleep. I need to be able to see into your psyche." Hussef lay back as Red stood over his bed and placed her fingers on his temples. "Ah. Good boy. Yes, I think I see the problem." Inside Hussef's psyche, the Red Lady found a bright red vein of distress. "Now, if I can just locate the root of it..." Red trailed her way up the vein, which pulsated regularly, panging against poor Hussef's mind. It must be awful. The color was getting more luminous as she went. "Getting closer..."

Suddenly, Red's inner sight was taken over by a series of flashes. Giant insects. Bees. No, wasps. Except _huge_. She gasped.

"What's wrong?" Nyssa asked, but Red shook her head. She had to stay focused, or she'd lose the trail. She pushed through and found where the vein originated. She carefully dislodged it, like one would pull up the root of a weed to ensure it would never regrow. "There," she said, pulling out of Hussef's mind. "I believe that should fix the problem. It'll take a while for the headache to die down completely, but some good old fashioned Tylenol should take of that."

"Yes," said Hussef slowly. "Already it feels less severe. Oh, thank you!" He grabbed Red's hand in his own meaty paw and pumped it up and down enthusiastically. "Thank you ever so much!"

"Is it really that simple?" Nyssa asked Red.

"No sweat," said Red with a smile.

Nyssa nodded, looking thoughtful. But after they'd left the room, Nyssa touched her arm. "Red Lady. When you were curing Mr. Hussef, you gasped. Did you see something?"

Red looked around to make sure no one was looking. "Yes. That headache...it was psychic. You were right about that. But it was a certain variant which I've seen only several times in my life. Tell me. When you were with the Doctor, did you ever encounter a species called the Vespiforms?" Nyssa shook her head. "No, I didn't think so," said Red. "The Vespiforms are an alien race that look like Earth wasps, only enormous. They're highly telepathic. Inside his head, I saw them. But there's something else you need to know about them...they can shapeshift."

Nyssa looked lost. "You mean they can take any form they choose? But why is that important?"

"Nyssa..." Red looked at her hard. "They can look _humanoid_."

Realization dawned on Nyssa's face. She looked back at Hussef's door uneasily, then back at Red. "You mean...he is one of these Vespiforms?"

"Could be," said the Red Lady. "Can I see his file?"

Nyssa handed her the puce folder with Hussef's information. Red flipped to "Personal History", read a bit, then nodded. "Just as I thought. Mother, Human. Father, unknown. I guarantee you his father was a Vespiform. And if that's true, the Vespi DNA will override the mother's. Translation: your patient is about to hatch."

"Hatch?" Nyssa looked back at the door.

"Yes. Like I said before, Vespiforms are telepathically advanced. A specimen like Hussef, born unnaturally, can go through his whole larvae stage thinking he's human. They have a mechanism that represses that nature. But when he reaches maturity, he won't be able to control the transformation. So we must tread very carefully, Nyssa. Don't say anything to Hussef. If he finds out what he truly is, there's no stopping it."

"Should we worry?" Nyssa asked.

"I don't know. I just-" Suddenly, there was the sharp sound of a loud siren. "What's that?!" Red exclaimed.

"Invaders!" Nyssa replied, taking off down the hall, Red right on her heels.

"Who would attack a hospital?" the Red Lady inquired.

"Yonson," said Nyssa, running inside of a stall where there was a control center. Inside was a crew member who looked exactly like a giant Earth fly, poking frantically at buttons, his buggish eyes looking at every scanner at once. "What's the alert?"

"Mistress Nyssa! There's something out there. A whole fleet of warships! Look!" Yonson indicated to the screens.

Both Nyssa and Red took a look. "Oh my," said Nyssa. "Red Lady, do you know who they are?"

"I don-" Suddenly, _Terminus_ shook with veracity. Outside, there were screams of panic. Red and Nyssa fell to ground as the room trembled. Chunks of drywall fell from the ceiling. "The vessel's been caught in a tractor beam!" Red yelled over the noise.

Suddenly, they all - everyone in the hospital - heard a horrid, loud, raspy in their heads. _This ship holds one of us_, said the voice. _We have come to take him. The rest will feel our sting._

The shaking, thankfully, stopped. Red stood up. "A psychic broadcast!" she proclaimed.

"But what did they mean?" Nyssa said, carefully getting to her feet. "Who are they? What do they want? And what did they mean by, 'feel our sting'?"

"I don't know, Nyss," said the Red Lady. "But I think now I might be working overtime."


	16. Red Wasp, Part 2

**Yes, the Gorn is from **_**Star Trek**_**. Lol.**

**I always shipped Nyssa and Adric, but I also ship Nyssa and Tegan, soooo...**

**Thanks to slytherinpuffles to commenting. To the anonymous guest, I don't know when I'll be picking You Are Not Alone back up, but just know that I'm not giving up on it. I've been meaning to get back to it lately, and now that I'm not involved in **_**Sherlock**_** anymore, I'll have more time to devote to it now. So please, have patience with me. :)**

* * *

Suddenly, a plume of violet gas rolled into the room. "What the-!" Red coughed as she inhaled the fumes. She hid her nose and mouth in the collar of her jacket.

"What is it?" Nyssa asked, covering her face with the edge of her apron.

"Dunno, but it can't be good! Try not to breath it in, whatever you do." After a moment, the gas dispersed and disappeared. Red cautiously took her collar away from her face.

"Is it safe?" Nyssa said.

"Seems so." Red breathed freely.

Suddenly, a nurse ran in. "Mistress Nyssa, there you are! The quake caused a lot of damage. People have been injured. We need your help!"

"Oh no!" Nyssa looked at the Red Lady. "I must-"

"Go care for your patients," Red finished. "You're right, you have to go. You're a doctor now, Nyssa. You have to go do your job."

Nyssa nodded, and rushed with the nurse out of the room.

Red turned to the fly-like alien on the ground, whose office chair had been upset in the quake. "Yonson," she said, helping him up. "Run a diagnostic and see what that toxin was that came through here."

"I'm only security, ma'am," said Yonson, looking over his screen. "Cameras and stuff."

"Then who can distinguish the toxin?" Red asked.

"Try Room 745. It's on the top level, the same floor as Mistress Nyssa's office. Room 745 controls the facility's oxygen levels. They might be able to help you."

"Alright. Thanks, Yonson. Keep your eyes on those cruisers outside." Red dashed from the room, running for the elevators.

"Yes ma'am," said Yonson, putting his hands on the control table. He blinked several times, then yelped and leapt away from the control panel in a panic. He looked at his most forefront limbs, the small claws at the ends, and began shrieking.

Some orderlies hurried in. "What's wrong?" asked one of them.

"Bring water! The console's on fire!" Yonson shrieked.

"I see no fire," said the orderly.

"What are you, blind?! My hands!" Yonson wailed in pure agony. "They're burnt! Look at them!"

The orderly looked at his claws in confusion. "They seem fine to me," he commented.

"No, look at them! I burned them on the console! What are you all standing around for?!" Yonson, in a frenzy, bolted for the door. "_Fire!_" he shrieked. "_Fire! Everyone run! We're all going to die!_"

The orderlies, sensing his hysteria, grabbed him. One whipped out a syringe of sedative and injected him with it. Yonson immediately slumped in their hold, passing out.

One orderly looked at a second. "Odd."

* * *

"We've been analyzing the air for noxious particles, but the chemical makeup of the gas don't register with our atomic records," the technician reported.

"You mean, you can't identify the gas?" Red reaffirmed.

"Yes, ma'am. It seems to be made up of elements unknown to Earth, Traken, or any of the planets _Terminus_ associates with."

Red sighed. "Wonderful. Well, if people start dropping like flies, I guess we'll know if the gas is harmful or not. Keep trying anyway. Something has to come up."

"Yes, ma'am." The technician turned back to her work.

Suddenly, a wail of terror came down the hall. _Help! HELP!_

"Oh my God!" Red sprang into action and raced toward the sound. No one else in the room even reacted to the cry.

Red sprinted through the debris-littered corridor, till she turned a corner and found-

"Stop them, they'll kill each other!" A girl of about sixteen with long, matted, raven hair, wearing a hospital gown, with deathly sallow skin clinging to her thin bones, was shouting, pointing at two orderlies in a fight. One was human, the other was a large green reptilian individual, and they were currently attempting to strangle and beat the life out of each other.

"Hey, HEY!" Red grabbed both their shoulders and tried to wrench them apart. "Knock it off!"

The green one - Red recognized it as a Gorn - threw her into the far wall with a sweep of his mighty arm.

"Ulmph!" Red grunted as she hit the surface, then landed on the ground. She'd had the wind knocked out of her. Red, one hand on her sore shoulder (it had been the one she'd dislocated once during the Time War and it was still sensitive even now) and one clutching her stomach, carefully got to her feet. She glared at the still struggling orderlies. "Okay. You asked for it."

She marched over to them and got a hold of their temples, and sent a knockout wave to their brains. The human and the Gorn both crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

The emaciated girl looked at the Red Lady in awe. "How did you do that?" she said.

"It's complicated," wheezed Red, still feeling the effects of being slammed against the wall. "Did they hurt you?"

"No, I was just in my room when I heard the ruckus outside. Did you kill them?"

"Of course I didn't kill them," said Red. "But they will be asleep for about...two days. I may have hit them a little harder than I should have. Do you know what they were fighting about?"

"No idea," said the girl. "They just went crazy."

"Well...they won't be hurting anyone now," Red remarked. She looked at the girl. "What's your name?"

"Gemira."

"Well, Gemira, you're safe now." Red turned and made to walk away.

"Wait!" Gemira exclaimed. "Can I...stay with you? This ship's going insane and I'm scared."

Red thought for a second, then nodded. "First sign of danger, you take cover. Stay close to me and do what I say. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Red Lady!" Nyssa was hurrying toward her. "I'm so glad I found you. The patients and staff are seeing things! I believe the fumes that rolled through here contained a hallucinogen. Yonson had an episode that made him think he was on fire."

"That explains these two," said Red, indicating to the unconscious orderlies on the floor. "Have you been seeing things?"

Nyssa gulped. "I saw Adric. He was begging me to save him from the exploding vessel. He was crying, he was so scared."

"I never told you, did I? Addie's alive," said Red with a warm smile. "I saved him. He's on Earth now, he's happy. All grown up, just like you. Making a difference."

Nyssa gasped. "Really?" Her eyes sparkled with

"Really," replied Red. "I'll take you to see him sometime. _After_ we've dealt with this."

Nyssa nodded. "Yes."

"Have we identified the enemy ships yet?"

"Yes," said Nyssa. "They're Vespiform ships."

"Vespiform ships...they must be here for Hussef," said Red. "They're telepaths and they sensed one of their kind here."

"What can we do?" Nyssa said fretfully.

Red bit her lip, thinking hard. "We need to set up a psychic defense field around Hussef. His brain is unconsciously sending out a homing beacon. Then...set up a communication line. Let me speak to the Vespiforms."


	17. Red Wasp, Part 3

**This fic is just rife with **_**Star Trek**_ **references. Sorry, I just finished the original series the other night so I'm a wee bit obsessed. :)**

* * *

On the large holo-screen in the meeting room, a view of the interior of the Vespi-battle cruiser appeared. Staring back at Red, Nyssa, and Gemira, was a giant red wasp-like creature.

The Red Lady puffed out her chest, taking a commanding stance. "This is the Red Lady, defender of the medical ship _Terminus_. To whom am I speaking?"

"_I am Captain Singh, leader of the _Thraxos _of the Vespiform interstellar armada_," the wasp hissed back.

"Are you aware you have willfully attacked a medical vessel, violating Statute 6a of the Shadow Proclamation, protecting all hospital ships from assault?" the Red Lady inquired.

"_You are holding one of our kinsmen hostage_," Singh accused. "_You have tried to mask his psychic broadcast, but we are not fooled. His mind calls to his brethren._"

Red swallowed. "We have a patient here. His mother was human. His father, one of your kind. He hasn't made his metamorphosis yet - he's still in humanoid form."

"_It does not matter_," Singh hissed. "_He is one of us. You will deliver him to us - or we will take him by __force_."

"No," the Red Lady replied. "He's an individual. He's not our prisoner, nor is he yours. If he wants to go with you, then he's free to do so. But if he wants to stay, then he stays."

"_You are meddling in affairs that do not concern you, bipedal filth. The hive stays united. We leave no one. There are no independents. This is our way._"

"Just because a custom is traditional, that doesn't make it correct. There's nothing wrong with unity, but you can't force someone to be a part of a collective entity. We're not kowtowing to your gang mentality, praxis or no praxis."

"_You are a foolish subspecies_," seethed Singh. "_Our battle cruisers can annihilate your pitiful ship with one flick of a switch._"

"Then why the gas?" Red demanded. "If you're so powerful, why drug us?"

"_Those fumes come from the natural gas wells of our home world. We are immune to it. Our sibling would be the lone survivor of its effect, while the weaker persons would tear each other apart_."

"Red Lady," said Nyssa nervously.

"I got this," Red whispered soothingly to her. She looked back at the wasp. "We will ask Hussef if he wants to be with you. If he says yes, we will gladly send him to you. If he doesn't, you leave this place peacefully. And no matter what the answer, you _will_ give us the antidote for the hallucinogen. Do we have a deal?"

Singh seemed to stew for a moment, then... "_I agree to your terms._" The screen went to black.

Gemira piped up. "Do you really think we can trust them?"

"I think they're volatile - and overzealous. Never a good combination," Red said, her jaw tight. "But they overpower us a thousand to one. This is the only way. Let's go break the bad news to Hussef and pray to whatever higher power you believe in that ET agrees to go home."

"I don't understand that reference," said Nyssa in confusion.

Red shook her head. "Never mind."

* * *

"Red Lady, Mistress Nyssa, I'm ready to go home now," said Hussef. "I'm quite eager to leave this place, what with the attacks going on. But I don't understand why I have been moved to the gymnasium."

"Because we needed a much higher ceiling," Red replied. "Mr. Hussef, I don't want to alarm you - but you're about to go through a change."

"What change?" Hussef asked in concern.

"Mr. Hussef...did you ever know your biological father?" Red asked carefully.

"No," said Hussef. "He died when my mother was still carrying me."

"Do you know anything about him?"

"Not much, I'm afraid."

Red took a deep breath. "Have you been having any visions or bad dreams about...wasps?"

Hussef seemed to freeze. "How did you know that?"

"I saw it inside your head. I didn't mean to, the unconscious thought just sorted of grabbed me. Mr. Hussef, have you ever heard about a race called the Vespiforms?"

Hussef shook his head.

"I didn't think so. Well, they're the ones attacking _Terminus_. They poisoned the air supply with a gas that causes people to have hallucinations. It's making the people on this ship go crazy, believing they're on fire or seeing their friend as a deadly enemy. They're threatening to destroy us - or let us destroy ourselves - if we don't surrender...you."

Hussef's bushy eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Me? What do they want with me?"

The Red Lady took a deep breath. "I'm very sorry to tell you this. But you are not human."

"...what?"

So Red told him the truth of his origins. "I'm so sorry, Hussef," she said. "But it's all true. You are a monster."

"No..._no_!" said Hussef, shaking. "That can't be true. I can't be...one of those things."

"But you are. I'm sorry," said Red.

"No. NO!" Hussef was trembling violently now.

"Mister Hussef, you need to calm down," said Nyssa.

"Whoa, he's gonna explode!" Gemira commented.

"Back up, I think he's about to transform!" Red said, holding her arms out as if protecting everyone behind her.

But Hussef didn't transform. Instead, he clutched at his chest. "Help-! Can't-! Breathe-!" With a shudder, he fell from his chair onto the floor in a dead faint.

"Huh?" said Red in confusion.

"Here, let me check him," said Nyssa, rushing over to the fallen fat man.

"Nyssa, I wouldn't-!" Red began to protest, but Nyssa was already checking Hussef out. The nurse took the man's wrist and pressed two fingers to his pulse point. "Oh...oh my God," Nyssa breathed.

"What is it?" Red said.

Nyssa looked up at her in horror. "He's _dead_."

Red stood there in dumbstruck silence. Somewhere behind her, Gemira whispered, "Holy crap."

* * *

"This isn't good," said the Red Lady, pacing. It turned out that Hussef had suffered a massive heart attack that had killed him immediately due to the combination of Red's shocking news and his poor health. Nyssa had tried her best to bring him back - no one else could help her because they were either caring for patients or suffering the effects of the hallucinogenic gas - but to no avail. "The Vespiforms are going to think we killed him. They'll attack us for sure now, thinking we murdered one of their kinsmen."

"Oh no, oh no," Nyssa moaned, panicking, rubbing her face in distress.

"We're all going to die," Gemira groaned gloomily from where she was leaning against the doorframe of Nyssa's office.

"Hush, we're _not_ going to die," Red said impatiently. "I'll think of a way out of this. I always do."

"This is the Kobyashi-Maru, Red Lady," said Gemira flatly. "There's no way out."

"There's _always_ a way out," said Red insistently, gritting her teeth. "I don't believe in no-win situations."

Gemira snorted. "Okay, Captain Kirk, if you and Bones here can think up a way out of this mess, I'm all ears."

"Well you're not exactly helping, _Chekov_."

"Wait, I'm Chekov in this equation? I would have thought I was Uhura or Sulu or _somebody_ badass at least."

"Wait! I have an idea," said Nyssa. "Red Lady, you can teleport, right? And you can bring people with you! So you could teleport everyone out of here to a safe location!"

Red shook her head. "I can only bring one other person at a time. That'd take a long time that we don't have. Plus, there's, what, 300 people aboard this vessel at least? My brain would die from the strain before I even got a quarter of the way through."

"So what? We're all gonna die anyway," Gemira repeated.

Red glared at her. "That's it. I'm demoting you to nameless red shirt."

"Red Lady, who do you keep-" But Nyssa was cut off as the holo-screen let out a chime, indicating an incoming call. "It must be Singh," said Nyssa fearfully. "What will we tell him?"

Red gulped. "I don't know. But we have to hope for the best." She pressed the green "**ACCEPT COMMUNICATION**" button, and the giant wasp came on the screen again.

"_We grow tired of waiting. Give us our kinsmen_," Singh hissed.

Red raised her chin, trying to look brave. "He...he didn't want to go with you. So you have to give us the antidote to the hallucinogen and leave. That was our bargain."

"_Do you think I would trust a degenerate little primate like you? I would speak to the individual himself. Let him tell me his answer._"

Red swallowed. "And what I refused?"

"_Then I would kill all of you_."

"You can't! You would kill your own kinsman in the process!" Red said.

"_He does not matter that much. Give us our brother or suffer the consequences._"

Red licked her lips, thinking hard. _What can I do, what can I do?_

"Red Lady," said Gemira from the doorway, sounding suddenly inspired. "The Corbomite Maneuver."

Red looked at her. "Huh?"

"_The Corbomite Maneuver_," said Gemira with even more intent. She smiled.

Slowly, it came to Red. She smiled back, then turned back to the holo-screen in all seriousness. "I wouldn't be so fast to unload your firepower on us yet, Singh. Not unless you want to wipe out your own fleet as well," she said in a confident voice.

"_What? Explain yourself._"

Red smiled cockily. _Just like good ol' James T. Kirk._ "You see, what you don't know about the people who constructed _Terminus_ is that the medical ships like these are built with a supply with a substance known as corbomite. It's very powerful and _very_ deadly. This ship is designed so that if a party like yourself tried to blow us up, you'd activate the corbomite, which would explode and wipe out everything in a thousand mile radius, _including_ yourselves."

"_You are lying_."

"Am I? Maybe. But do you really wanna take that risk?" Red challenged.

Singh was silent. "_Fine. We will not kill you_."

"A wise move," said the Red Lady with a smile.

"_We will wait for the gas to do it for us. Then our brother will be the only one left alive, and we will take him by force_," Singh declared and terminated the call.

Red looked at Nyssa. "Well...we dodged one bullet just to head right into the path of another."


	18. Red Wasp, Part 4

**If you don't know Classic Doctor Who, Nyssa's father, Tremas, was killed by the Master, who was dying himself. The Master then inhabited Tremas's body. In the succeeding episode, the Master executed a plan which inadvertently destroyed a chunk of the universe (including Nyssa's planet, Traken). The Doctor managed to stop him before he did any more damage, but died in the process, regenerating from his fourth incarnation (Tom Baker) into his fifth (Peter Davison). The reason Red's having trouble remembering this is because the Master accidentally got erased from existence. If you asked Nyssa, her memory would probably be hazy too.**

* * *

"We _have_ to figure out a cure to the toxin, otherwise everyone is gonna go insane and kill themselves," said the Red Lady urgently.

"But how?" moaned Nyssa in desperation. "The chemical makeup of the gas isn't made up of any known elements!"

"There must be a way to counteract it. Think, Red Lady, think!" grunted the ginger, tapped her head, concentrating hard.

Nyssa watched as the Red Lady paced back and forth. Gemira was still in her corner. "The toxin doesn't affect the Vespiforms themselves," the girl piped up. "Think about it. The only one who wasn't going crazy was Hussef. That must mean the Vespiforms are immune to the hallucinogen."

"That's it!" Red exclaimed. "Nyssa, the toxin doesn't affect the Vespiforms! That means that there must be something in their DNA that makes them immune!"

"Of course!" said Nyssa. "We need a sample of Vespiform blood."

"Well luckily you've got a test subject in this very hospital," Red grinned. "We'll just say that Hussef donated his body to science."

* * *

Nyssa pulled a sample of blood from Hussef's cadaver. "Now, I'll go and analyze this in my lab. Red Lady, if you could run a sweep of the ship and make sure no one's killing each other, that would put my mind at ease a great deal."

"I'm not sure I wanna leave your side," Red fretted. "You might get another case of the crazies."

Nyssa shook her head. "I'll be alright. Go on."

Red nodded. "You're the boss, hoss."

"I'm going with you," said Gemira, tagging along as Red went out the door.

"Thanks," Red said, smiling. "Could use the company. It's gonna be a long walk."

Gemira shuddered. "I'm scared, to be honest."

"Don't be," said Red. "I'm here. I can protect you. So, if you don't mind me asking, what are you in hospital for?"

Gemira looked uncomfortable.

"You don't have to tell me," Red said.

"No, no, it's just...it's embarrassing," said Gemira. "I guess you've noticed how skinny I am."

Red nodded. "Well...yeah."

Gemira sighed. "I'm bulimic. I used to do the whole 'scarf and barf' thing. I was obsessed with losing weight - I thought I was super fat and ugly. But it made my health decline a lot, and I got all emaciated." Gemira gestured to her stick-like figure. "One day I straight up collapsed, I was so weak. So I was admitted here, to absorb some nutrients and get back to a healthier weight."

Red nodded. "I'm sorry you went through that. As you can tell, weight problems are no stranger to me." Red poked her chubby belly sheepishly. "I get winded just walking up a flight of stairs, sad to say."

"Well whatever you do, do NOT try to starve yourself, ever," said Gemira. "I learned that lesson all too well."

"Copy that," nodded Red.

"So how'd you become friends with the head matron?" Gemira asked. By now they had covered almost the entire top floor, and were now heading to the one below.

"Oh, Nyssa and I go way back," said Red. "She and I have this mutual friend we both used to travel with. She went traveling with him when her planet was destroyed."

"Oh my god!" said Gemira, her eyes going wide. "How did that happen?"

"Well there was this incident with a third of the universe collapsing...I think," said Red, suddenly feeling confused. "Wasn't it? That's weird...I can't quite remember all the details. It feels like a dream from a long time ago. But I know it happened. Had something to do with...her...father?"

Gemira was quiet for a moment. Then she said "well", but suddenly there was a loud ruckus from upstairs.

Red and Gemira looked at each other. "Uh oh," said Red, turning and racing for the stairs.

"What was _that_?" Gemira exclaimed, right on her heels.

They followed the noise to the morgue, where a nurse was screaming his head off. "M-m-monster!" he yelped.

"Shh, there's no monster, I promise," Red soothed. "Listen, we've all been drugged with something that makes us see things that aren't there. But as long as we remain calm, we'll be perfectly fi-"

"GIANT WASP!" shrieked Gemira.

"Not helping!" Red growled at her.

"_Look_!"

Red looked over her shoulder. "Whoa, mama!" she exclaimed.

The dimensions of the room barely containing it, an enormous red Vespiform was hovering in the center, buzzing in a sinister fashion.

"How did one of them get in here?" Gemira said. "They said they'd wait for us all to die!"

Red gazed deep into the beast's eyes. "It's not one of them...it's one of us. It's _Hussef_."

Hussef seemed to be studying them. Waiting.

"But he's dead!" whispered Gemira.

"Apparently not," Red replied, her heart racing a hundred miles an hour. She recalled being attacked by a swarm of red Earth wasps as a young girl - she had been passing by their nest and her floral shampoo had attracted them. They had stung her several times, mostly on the scalp. Ever since then, wasps, yellow jackets, bees, hornets, gave Red a terrible fright.

"Will he kill us?"

"I don't know," said Red. "It depends on whether or not any of his humanity's still in there. Maybe, if I can...yes!"

"What?"

Red gulped. "Get out of here. If he gets mad, I don't want you anywhere near here."

"I'm staying with you."

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Red took an uneasy step forward. She cautiously put her hand out, like one would when first introducing themself to a strange dog.

Hussef's antennae wiggled. Picking up her scent.

"So far so good," Red whispered.

Hussef bowed his head slightly, in a non-threatening gesture.

"I'm going to try to communicate with him," Red explained. "I'm a touch telepath. If I can make contact with his psychic points - which I guess would be his feelers - I can get through to Hussef if he's in there. He'll recognize me as his friend."

"Be careful!" Gemira hissed.

Red reached out cautiously to one of Hussef's feelers. "Just a light touch-"

The tips of her fingers brushed the wasp's antennae.

Hussef bucked, buzzing warningly.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down, everything's fine." Red swallowed nervously.

Hussef, seeming to trust her, inclined his head toward her, nervously offering his feelers to her.

Red very lightly touched her fingers to them. _Hussef_, she said.

_I'm afraid_, came the wasp's reply.

_Don't be afraid_, said Red. _I am your friend. I helped you. Do you remember?_

_I...yes. Yes. You are the Red Lady._

_Yes. And your name is Hussef._

_Have I...transformed?_

_Yes._

_I feel strange...but good. Strong. I hear singing in the sky. My brothers. They call to me._

_They wanted you. Do you want to be with them now?_

_I...yes. My heart yearns for my kin. I see now. Let me be with them, please?_

_Of course_, said Red. _But first you have to transform back to your bipedal form. You're too big to get out of here at the moment._

Hussef laughed shyly in his mind. _I am, aren't I? I feel magnificent._

Red smiled. _You are. Very magnificent._

_You...fear me?_

_I did...but not now. Now that I know you're still you._

Red broke contact and stepped away. The giant wasp shimmered and melted down into his familiar human state. Hussef lay curled nude on the floor, looking up at the Red Lady.

Gemira wrinkled her nose. "Ew. Nakey."

Red grabbed a blanket and a pair of large pajama pants nearby and handed them to Hussef. "Here. Put these on, and then we'll take you to the others like you."

Hussef smiled up at her. "Thank you."

* * *

Once on the hull of _Terminus_, Hussef again transformed into his insectoid state and flew into the stars toward the encircling ships. One of them opened their hatch and admitted him inside. Then, the fleet began turning and flying away. Red and Gemira watched from the atmosphere bubble surrounding the ship. Red smiled. "Look at that - ET got to phone home after all."

"Come on," said Gemira. "Nyssa is probably ready with that cure after all."

"You're probably right. Let's go."

Inside, in Nyssa's lab, the Trakenness did indeed have a formula ready. "I'll just install this into the oxygen supply and soon, everyone will be cured," she said happily.

"Nyssa, I could absolutely kiss you," grinned Red.

"Miss?" A nurse came in. "There's a transmission waiting for the Red Lady. From the Vespiform captain."

"I thought they all left," said Red.

"All but one," reported the nurse. "The flagship remained to talk to you."

"I'll talk to him," nodded Red. "Thank you." She looked at Gemira. "I'll be back."

In Nyssa's office, the wasp was once again on screen. "_You delivered our kinsmen even after we'd sentenced you to death?_" Singh asked, sounding somewhat awed.

"Yes," said the Red Lady, crossing her arms. "Some of us 'bipedal filth' have a code of honor."

"_So it would seem. In any event, the new arrival has told us of your kindness to him. That you are his friend. We give our thanks. We shall emit the antidote for the toxin, as a sign of amnesty on our part._"

"No need," said Red. "Our top scientist already formulated it. It's being administered as we speak."

"_Your kind is...surprising to me_," said Singh. "_Perhaps the next time we meet, I will not be so hasty to underestimate you_."

"Perhaps. But let's just agree not to meet again, hm?"

"_Agreed, ape._"

"Oh, Captain Singh," said Red, before the Vespiform could sign off. "I happen to know a little about your culture. I'm sort of a transgalactic vagrant, you see. And what you said is true - the Vespiforms are very unified - but primarly in the family sense. Vespiform culture is to fight very hard for one's family...especially one's children."

Singh seemed to tense. "_What of it?_"

"I was bluffing about the corbomite. Just as you were bluffing about blowing up this station. You couldn't have beared to kill your own son."

Singh's wings raised slightly, like a dog getting its hackles up. "_How do you know that?_"

"The love of family is unmistakable, Captain. If you've seen all I have, you'd know that like I do."

Singh's head bowed slightly in shame. "_Yes, it is true. I could sense my own blood calling to me from your vessel. Blood is powerful magic - it will always lead us back to our own._"

"I couldn't agree more," said Red. "Take good care of Hussef, Captain Singh."

"_I shall. I am forever in your debt, Lady of Red. You shall always be known as friend of the Vespi._"

Red nodded. "Live long and prosper."

The transmission cut out.

* * *

The hospital was pulling itself back together after the crisis. Luckily, no one was too terribly injured in the madness. Red was trying to find Gemira and Nyssa to say goodbye. She had to be moving on.

Red spied the Trakenite first and edged through the mass to reach her. "Nyssa!"

"Oh, Red Lady." Nyssa hugged her tightly. "I can't thank you enough for all the help you've given me."

"Hey," grinned Red, shrugging. "It's what I do. Say, have you seen Gemira anywhere?"

"Who?" asked Nyssa.

"Gemira. Girl who was following me around. Thin, long dark hair. Anorexia patient."

"Anorexia?" Nyssa was very confused now. "We don't have an anorexia ward. The last recorded case of that was in the 2280s, over a thousand years ago. People simply learned to accept their bodies."

"Really? Why would she lie?" said Red, shaking her head.

Nyssa was checking the patient roster on her data pad. "G-E-M-I-R-A?"

"I assume."

Nyssa shook her head. "There's no one here registered under that name, or a similar spelling."

"But that means..." Red slowly realized. "Oh."

Gemira had been a hallucination all along.

* * *

**If you rearranged the letters in "Gemira", you get "mirage". ;)**


	19. Strawberry Fields, Part 1

**This next story is a bit long. It's "Dark Water" and "Death In Heaven", aka the two part finale of series 8. If you haven't seen it, you might want to catch up before reading this.**

* * *

The Red Lady appeared in the TARDIS console room, but it was empty. "Doctor? Helloooo?"

_Rrrrrrring_.

The Red Lady looked at the handheld phone sitting on the console. "Should I answer that?" she murmured to herself. "Might be important..."

_Rrrrrrring_.

"Doctor?" Red called again, but there was still no answer.

_Rrrrrrring_.

"Oh, bugger it," muttered Red, picking up. "Hello?"

"Red Lady?" It was Clara.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry, the Doctor's must've stepped out for a moment."

"Oh, that's fine. I'll wait. There's something important I need to ask him."

"Okay." Red leaned against the console. "How long's it been since you saw me last? I lose track of these things. Time travel and all."

"A while. A few months."

"How's Danny?"

Clara's voice went funny. "Oh, he's...fine."

Red lifted an eyebrow, but made no remark. Just then, the Doctor burst in.

"Oh, Red Lady! When did you get here?"

"About a minute or so ago. Clara's on the phone; she wants to talk to you."

The Doctor took the phone. "Clara!"

Red stepped away as the Doctor chatted with his companion. They talked for a while, then the Doctor hung up. He looked at Red.

"Something's wrong with her," said Red.

The Doctor nodded. "I know."

* * *

The Doctor was alone in the TARDIS when Clara came inside. "Start her up," the English teacher said - more like ordered - as she shut the door behind her.

"Where are we going?" the Doctor asked, idly tinkering with some little device.

"Away."

"From?"

"Just away," Clara replied casually, rounding the console.

"Well, normally you say work or kids or dishes or dullness. So what's happened?" the Doctor asked as Clara headed downstairs under the main deck.

"A volcano!" Clara declared she approached the Doctor's workbench. There she found a small round box. Inside was a key - a key to the TARDIS. One of the Doctor's various spare ones. Clara slipped it into her jacket pocket.

"I'm sorry?" asked the Doctor.

"I've never seen an active volcano, do you know one?"

"What's so great about seeing a volcano? It's just a sort of leaky mountain," the Doctor said as she emerged back on the control deck.

"I've never seen lava," Clara explained. While the Doctor's back was turned, she snaked her hand into the pocket of his coat, hanging by the door, and pulled out another key. She pocketed that one too.

"It's rubbish," the Doctor said.

"Prove it," Clara said.

The Doctor gave her a funny look, then shrugged and began setting the coordinates. While he was distracted, Clara flitted about, discreetly collecting all the Doctor's ever so cleverly concealed spare TARDIS keys. "Do you still have those sleep patch things?" she asked conversationally.

"You can't have one," the Doctor said.

"I'm having trouble sleeping."

"You still can't have one."

Clara wasn't really listening to him. "Can I have one?"

"No, you can't have one."

Clara finally uncovered the box of them from a drawer. She took one and held it in her palm, then turned and carefully approached the Doctor.

The TARDIS landed with a gentle _thud_. "So," the Doctor sighed. "Volcano. What's so good about lava?"

Clara slapped the patch onto the Doctor's neck and knocked him out.

* * *

A loud boom. The Doctor woke up abruptly. He was lying outside the TARDIS on an igneous expanse of rock, near the gaping of maw of an active volcano.

The Doctor looked around in wild confusion and saw, emerging from the smoke before him, his companion emerging from the acrid smoke, like a gaunt phantom. "Clara?" he coughed.

"It's on your neck," said Clara flatly.

The Doctor felt the back of his neck and struggled to his feet, question marks swimming in his eyes.

Clara held out the collected keys. "You told me once what it would take to destroy a TARDIS key - _that's_ what's so good about lava." Clara fanned them out to show the Doctor. "All seven. From all of your hiding places." She held one up.

"Clara, what are you doing?" the Doctor asked nervously. "Don't. Be very, very careful with that. Those are very, very-!"

Without even looking, Clara threw the key over her shoulder into the lava. The TARDIS cloister bell sounded. _Clong_.

"Do I have your attention?" asked Clara, her voice dark and unrecognizable. Her eyes were glassy with tears.

"Yes," whispered the Doctor.

"Good," said Clara.

"No. Not good, Clara."

"Danny Pink," said Clara hoarsely.

"Yeah?"

"Is _dead_."

The Doctor's eyes flitted left and right. "And?"

Clara's eyes narrowed. "Seriously?" she hissed.

"And?" the Doctor prompted.

"And _fix it_," Clara demanded. "Change it. Change what happened. _Save him_. Bring him back." Clara held up another key, prepared to throw it.

"No," said the Doctor.

Into the lava. _Clong_.

"Five left," Clara said. "Every time you say no to me, I will throw another key down there. Do we understand each other?"

"Well, I understand you," said the Doctor, trying to quell her. "Let's not get carried away."

"Time can be rewritten," Clara declared.

"With precision," the Doctor agreed. "With great care. And not today. But you know that of course, otherwise you wouldn't be threatening me."

Another key. "Did you just say no?" Clara whispered harshly.

"If I change the events that brought you here, you will never come here and ask me to change those events. Paradox loop. The timeline disintegrates. Your timeline. And yes!"

"Yes?" Clara asked.

"Yes. I did just say no. Throw away the key."

"I have seen you change time, I have seen you break any rule you want," Clara said angrily.

The Doctor shrugged. "I know when I can, I know when I can't. Throw the key."

"I know what you're doing," Clara said. "You're trying to take control."

"I am in control. Throw away the key. _Do as you are told_."

"No!" Clara exclaimed.

"Well, either you do as you're told or stop threatening me. There really isn't a third option here," said the Doctor, his logic self-righteous and infuriating, because Clara knew deep down he was right.

The two time travelers glared at each other for a moment, and then Clara decided - enough playing around. "Do you know what, Doctor?" she asked. "When it comes to taking control, you really are out of your depth."

Clara turned and threw _all_ the keys, all but one, into the lava. _Clong. Clong. Clong. Clong._

The English teacher held up the final key, shaking slightly.

"One last chance," she said quietly. "And I don't care about the rules, I don't give a _damn_ about paradoxes. Save Danny. Bring him back or I swear...you will never step inside your TARDIS again."

"No," the Doctor said flatly.

"Do as you are told," Clara spat.

"No."

"Say it again so I know you mean it."

"No!"

Clara took a step back toward the edge of the precipice, holding the key out over the hot molten muck. "I'm not kidding, Doctor," she warned.

"Neither am I," the Doctor said stubbornly.

"_I will do it!_" Clara shrieked, tears threatening to leak out of her eyes.

"Clara, my Clara, I don't think you will-!"

As the Doctor reached for her, Clara lobbed the seventh and final key into the volcano.

It disappeared and melted like all its brothers.

_Clong._

The Doctor stared in horror at the place where the key had sunk into the thick lava. Clara did too, hardly believing she'd done it. "Oh, I'd say I'm sorry but I'd do it again," she whimpered, falling to her knees and bursting into tears. "I'd do it again..."

The Doctor just stared at her somberly. "Well, what are you doing, why are you just standing there, do you understand what I have just done?" Clara babbled thickly.

The Doctor's eyes softened. He actually _smiled_. "Look in your hand," he said.

"There's nothing in my hand," Clara sobbed.

"Clara, look in your hand-"

"-the keys, they're gone, they're down there, they've gone-"

"-Clara, look in your hand!"

"There's nothing in my hand," Clara insisted.

"Yes, yes, yes, there is. Look," said the Doctor, clapping his hands.

In confusion, Clara looked at her palm. Stuck to it was the sleep patch.

"Did you seriously think that that was going to work on me?" the Doctor asked.

Now Clara remembered. As soon as she'd brought the patch to the Doctor's neck, he'd grabbed her hand and made the patch stick to her instead. He'd been expecting it.

"They're not sleep patches," said the Doctor gently. "They induce a dream state."

Clara closed her eyes in shame, her eyelashes heavy with teardrops, as the Doctor removed the patch. The caldera around them faded into the interior of the TARDIS console room-they'd never left.

"Makes you very suggestible," said the Doctor as he began collecting the keys scattered on the floor that Clara had thought she was throwing into a volcano. "I allowed the whole scenario to play out just as you planned...with a little help from the Red Lady."

Clara suddenly realized there were fingers at her temples as they were pulling away. The air behind her shimmered and revealed the Red Lady, her round blue eyes bent with sadness. "Sorry," she said softly.

"Thanks," Clara murmured, turning away. She knew Red had lost someone like Danny too.

"I was curious about how far you would go," said the Doctor. There was a soft jingle as he dropped the keys in his coat pocket.

"Well," breathed Clara. "Now you know."

"Yeah," said the Doctor. "Now I know."

The Red Lady stood there, studying them anxiously.

"I love him," said Clara.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned her with it. "Yes, you're quite the mess of chemicals, aren't you?"

"Doctor, stop it," said Red quietly. The Doctor put his screwdriver back in his pocket.

"So, what now? What do we do now?" Clara asked. "You and me, what happens now?...Doctor?"

The Doctor was quiet a moment. "Go to hell," he finally said.

The Red Lady's head whipped around to look at him, her blue eyes wide with shock.

Clara nodded slowly. "Fair enough. _Absolutely_ fair enough."

She began walking toward the door. The Red Lady stared at the Doctor unblinkingly, although he was ignoring her. _You're really gonna do this?!_ she thought. _You've never given up on a companion before. Not even Turlough, and he tried to kill you!_

"Clara?" the Doctor called. Clara stopped. "You asked me what we're going to do. I told you...we're going to hell."

Clara turned around in shock. Red's facial expression changed to that of confusion. "Or wherever it is people go when they die," the Doctor continued, not looking at either of them as he started up the TARDIS. "If there is anywhere. Wherever it is, we're going to go there and we're going to find Danny. And if it is in any way possible, we're going to bring him home. Almost every culture in the universe has some concept of an afterlife. I always meant to have a look around, see if I could find one."

Clara wiped away a tear from her cheek. "You're going to help me?"

The Doctor looked up at her blankly. "Well, why wouldn't I help you?"

"B-because of what I just did. I just-"

"You betrayed me," the Doctor finished. "Betrayed my trust. You betrayed our friendship, you betrayed everything that I've ever stood for, _you let me down!_"

"Then why are you helping me?" Clara sniffled.

"'Why'?" The Doctor slowly approached the crying girl. He sighed. "Do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?"

Clara stood at him in amazement.

"Stop it with the eyes," said the Doctor. "Don't do that with the eyes. How do you do that anyway? It's like they _inflate_."

Clara wiped her eyes again as the Doctor turned back to the controls. "Cut out the whining while you're at it," he said. "We've got work to do. This is it, Clara, one of those moments."

"What moments?" Clara asked.

"The darkest day. The blackest hour. Chin up, shoulders back. Let's see what we're made of, the three of us." The Doctor took ahold of Clara's shoulders and guided her to the console, to the exposed psychic nerve board. "Switching off the safeguards, turning off the nav-com. Remember, we did this before. We plugged you into the TARDIS telepathic interface."

"We ended up all over Danny's timestream," Clara replied.

"Because you and he are linked. Strongly linked. Your timestreams are intertwined," the Doctor explained.

The Red Lady felt a hard pit rising up in her throat again. She swallowed it down.

"So if he's anywhere at all, that link will hold," the Doctor continued. "Give me your hands."

Clara opened her mouth as the Doctor prepared to press her hands into the TARDIS's nerves. "Doctor-"

"We're in a hurry," urged the Doctor.

"I don't deserve a friend like you," Clara stammered.

The Doctor sighed. "Clara, I'm terribly sorry, but I'm exactly what you deserve." And he stuck her hands into the TARDIS.

"Think about Danny," the Doctor whispered to her. "Think about the man you lost." Clara closed her eyes. "Let it hurt. Let it burn. But don't bleat. Don't ask, why him? Why me? Forget all that. Ask one question. Just one. Ask: _where is Danny Pink now?_ Where is he now?"

The Red Lady looked up at the ceiling as the time rotor slowly started up.

The Doctor looked up too. "Well, the TARDIS thinks he's somewhere."


	20. Strawberry Fields, Part 2

The TARDIS landed with a rocky bump. "Where are we?" Clara asked.

"Nav-com's offline," the Doctor replied. "We'll have to do this old school."

"But this is where Danny is?"

"Almost certainly not. It's where there's a connection with Danny. According to the TARDIS, this is where it's most likely that your timeline will re-intersect with his." The Doctor pointed at Clara. "And that won't do."

"What won't?" Clara asked.

"You won't," the Doctor said. "Look at you. I need sceptical, clever, critical. I don't need mopey. It put years on your face. And what if people see us together? It looks like you've been melted. Red Lady, I'm counting on you to keep her together."

"Yes sir," said Red.

"I don't need _her_ to keep me together," said Clara bitterly. "And are you forgetting why we're here?"

"We're here to get your boyfriend back from the dead," the Doctor affirmed. "So buck up, and give me some attitude." The Doctor turned and headed out the door.

Clara stiffened her shoulders, sniffed hard, and made to follow him, but Red caught her hand. "Hey," said Red quietly. "_I_ know you can do this."

Clara looked at her and nodded once. "Damn right I can."

The Doctor, Clara, and the Red Lady stepped out of the TARDIS, looking around curiously. The TARDIS had materialized a dimly lit entrance lobby with elegant marble walls, floors, and columns. The Doctor and Clara turned on their flashlights and Red lit up a fireball. On the wall, there was a black obelisk with a gold inscription: **REST IN PEACE**. Underneath, added as an afterthought: **We promise**.

"What does that mean?" Red murmured suspiciously.

"Do you hear water?" the Doctor asked.

The trio looked up. The ceiling went up several stories of balconies. The walls were lined with rows of glass tanks, filled with water.

"Fish tanks?" Clara said.

"In a mausoleum?" added the Doctor.

"Now that's what I call sleeping with the fishes," Red said flatly.

Clara glared at her.

Red looked back at her awkwardly. "Not the time?"

"Really not the time."

"Okay."

They climbed the marble steps, where there was a plinth with the "Rest in peace: we promise" motto was etched yet again. A logo, designed like a large circle with a smaller circle attached to it, was on the plinth as well. Sitting atop it was a burning chalice.

"What does that mean?" Clara asked, referring to the mantra.

"It means those are definitely not fish tanks," the Doctor replied darkly.

Red looked up nervously. "Then what are they?"

"I guess we'll find out," the Doctor said.

"As long as they help us get Danny back," Clara said.

They turned down a corridor that was better lit and the group turned off their flashlights/fireballs. The aquariums lined the walls. And inside them-

"Oh," said Red, eyes widening, somewhat sickened. "Oh, God."

A skeleton, seated in a chair, grinned at them eerily from every single tank.

"Why?" Clara asked, also perturbed.

"I don't know," the Doctor said.

"Okay, I'm assuming they didn't actually drown in there," said Clara.

"No. They were placed, after death. These are tombs. Water tombs, some sort of fluid, anyway."

"With chairs?"

"With chairs, yes. Extra comfort for the deceased. It pays to die rich."

"Rich?" Red said.

"Aye," the Doctor replied. "You think they'd show off poor people like this?"

"But why put skeletons on display at all?" Red asked, shuddered. "It's not like they're dinosaurs or...the skeleton of Queen Victoria. Or Henry VIII...or Tupac."

"Oh, God. Am I going to find Danny now?" Clara panicked. "Is that why the TARDIS brought us here? I don't want to see him like that."

"The Red Lady makes a good point," the Doctor said. "Tombs with windows. Who wants to watch their loved ones rot? Why would anyone go to so much trouble just to keep watch on the dead?"

Red shivered. "Something is very, very wrong here."

"I agree," said the Doctor. "Let's investigate."

They walked along the rows, until they came across a wooden podium with a guest sign-in book. The Red Lady looked over his shoulder as he opened the small leather-bound book to an otherwise blank page, except for the outline of a square. The Doctor waved his hand over the square and a golden hologram of a cube rose up from it.

Red lifted an eyebrow. "Whoa. That's futuristic."

"Yes, it is," muttered the Doctor to her. "Especially considering that the TARDIS landed on Earth in 2014."

"So what are you thinking? Anachronism, or extraterrestrial?"

"Possibly both. Let's found out."

The Doctor waved his hand and the cube floated out into the open space of the corridor and expanded into the two-circle logo with a large "3W" in the center. Soft classical music began to play as script scrolled upward for them to read.

"_3W_," read a cool, female voiceover with a lilting Scottish accent. "_Death is not an end. But we can we help with that. Ever since 3W encountered the truth about the death experience, 'we have been working hard to find a better life for the deceased. At 3W, afterlife means aftercare_."

"Okay. Bit strange," commented Clara.

"Very," the Doctor agreed. "Why have the scrolling and a voice? Is it difficult?"

"Is what difficult?" Clara asked.

"Reading all those words back to front."

It was then that the Red Lady and Clara realized there was an actual _person_ hiding in the shadows, doing the narration.

"Come on," the Doctor coaxed. "We've come a long way."

Suddenly a woman burst through the hologram with a big lipstick smile on her face. "Hello," she said breathily, stepping right up to the Doctor and batting her eyelashes. "I hope you're well. How may I assist you with your death?"

She was an older woman, about the same age as the Doctor appeared to be, and very pretty. She was wearing a plum-colored Victorian-style coat and skirt with a silk white shirt that was pinned at her collar with a ovular black broach. Her rich brown hair was pinned up an elegant, curly bun, and it was adorned with a jaunty black straw hat with fake red berries, white flowers, and small green leaves.

The Doctor blinked several times. "Well, there is, errrr, no immediate hurry," he stammered, as if suddenly bowled over. "We're just, er. We're just-"

"Browsing," Clara finished for him.

"Yeah, yeah, browsing," the Doctor mumbled awkwardly.

"Please, take all the time you need," said the woman in purple, waving a manicured hand. "At 3W, you always have the rest of your life."

"Oh, good, that's good to know," the Doctor hemmed and hawed. "Clara, Red Lady, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Great," said Clara, side-eyeing the Doctor.

"Doctor, are you _blushing_?" Red asked incredulously. If she didn't know any better, she'd say the Doctor had just fallen head over heels for the mystery woman at first sight.

"Shush, no!" the Doctor exclaimed. Then he turned back to the woman. "Exactly what is 3W?"

"Apologies," said the woman stiffly. "Clearly you have not received the official 3W greetings package."

"Well, you know, it's just an unexpected-"

The Doctor was cut off as suddenly, the woman grabbed the Doctor by the lapel of his coat and shoved him somewhat roughly up against the wall. The Doctor gasped as the wind was knocked out of him. The woman smiled predatorily at the Doctor briefly pressing her lips firmly to his.

Clara's eyebrows shot up. Red's mouth fell open in surprise.

The woman continued to kiss the Doctor intently, her hand bracing against the surface of a glass tank and her body pressing up against the Time Lord, who seemed frozen in shock by the surprise attack.

"Oh my God..." said Red in wonder.

The woman finally let up, finishing with three small kisses to the tip of the Doctor's nose. Then with a self-satisfied sigh, she took a step back. "Welcome to the 3W Institute," she said with a sweet smile.

The Doctor was still up against the wall, clinging to it for support. "Girls," he whispered. "Is it over now?"

Clara swallowed. "I think it's over, yeah."

The eccentric woman turned to the girls. "You also have not received the official welcome package," she said to them, taking a step toward them.

Red caught her by the shoulder. "Hey, now…"

"We're good, thanks," Clara said, still freaked. "No worries."

"Who are you?" the Doctor asked the woman.

"I am Missy."

"Missy?" Clara repeated.

"Mobile Intelligent Systems Interface," Missy explained. "I am a multi-function, interactive welcome-droid. Helping you to help me to help you." She smiled robotically.

"You're very, er..." The Doctor gulped. "Realistic."

"Tongues?" Clara muttered.

"Shut up," the Doctor bit.

"I am fully programmed with social interaction norms appropriate to a range of visitors," Missy claimed, trilling the "r" in "range" like a proper Scot. "Please indicate if you'd like me to adjust my intimacy setting."

"Oh, yes, please. Please do that," the Doctor said quickly. "Do that now _right now_."

"Maybe just a tad, yeah," Clara agreed.

"Uh, ya think?" Red added.

Missy tilted her head and blinked several times, then looked back at the Doctor, a little less manically now.

"I need to speak to whoever's in charge here," the Doctor inquired of the robot.

"_I_ am in charge," said Missy, in a damn good impression of Dame Maggie Smith.

"Well, who's in charge of you?" the Doctor insisted.

"_I'm_ in charge of me."

"Well, who repairs you? Who, who maintains you?"

"I am programmed for self-repair. I am maintained by my heart."

Suddenly, Missy grabbed the Doctor's hand and pressed it to her chest.

The Doctor's eyes widened, his owlbrows nearly reaching his hairline.

"Yo, I think that's second base," Red whispered to Clara.

Missy batted her eyelashes at the Time Lord. "Is everything in order?" she asked softly.

"Who maintains your heart?" whispered the Doctor.

"My heart is maintained...by the Doctor," Missy declared.

The Doctor swallowed hard. "Doctor _who_?"

Missy smiled. Then she threw her head back and called loudly over her shoulder, "_Doctor Chang!_" The robot let go of the Doctor's wrist and strolled away, but the Doctor's hand remained in place in the air, as if still touching Missy.

"Who's there?" called a male voice from down the hall. A short-ish man in a light blue suit and thick black eyeglasses appeared. "Hello?"

"Hello," Clara replied.

"Hello," the Red Lady greeted him.

"Hello," muttered the Doctor, still a little in shock.

"You can probably take your hand down now, Doctor," Clara murmured. The Doctor blinked and dropped his arm, assuming a normal position.

"So," said Dr. Chang as he approached them. "Hey. Condolences."

Clara blinked. "Condolences?"

"It's a mausoleum. It's our hello," Chang explained. "Is there a particular dead person you want to talk to?"

Clara's eyes widened. "Yes," she said. "Yes, there is."

"This way then." Dr. Chang began leading the way down the hall.

The Doctor looked at Clara. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"No," said Clara. She held out her hand and the Doctor clasped it.

"Good," the Doctor said. "There would be something very wrong if you were." He and Clara began to follow after Chang, but then the Doctor paused, noticing the Red Lady's hesitation. "Red Lady? You coming?"

"Umm...yeah," said Red, throwing the android who was standing in a corner, watching them with the hint of a smirk on her face, a suspicious gaze. "Right behind you."

Once they were gone, Missy chuckled darkly to herself.

* * *

**You see, the Master is like herpes. You can't really get rid of them, and even if they disappear for a while, they always come back to annoy you. :P**


	21. Strawberry Fields, Part 3

"Come in, come in," Dr. Chang said as he lead the trio into his office. "Going to need to take a reading off you."

"A reading?" Clara asked.

"It won't hurt," Chang reassured. He flicked a switch on the wall, which activated a camera apparatus on his desk, which scanned Clara.

"What won't?" Clara said, not noticing.

"How does the body keep its integrity?" the Doctor asked, staring at yet another skeleton sitting in a glass case in the center of Chang's office. "Why isn't it just a bunch of bones floating about?"

"Each body is encased in a support exoskeleton," Chang explained.

"An invisible exoskeleton?" Clara said.

"It's only invisible in the water," said Chang. "There's a specially engineered refraction index in the fluid so we can see the tank resident unimpeded by the support mechanisms."

"So each skeleton is inside something," the Doctor simplified.

"Are you serious?" Clara asked in amazement. "X-ray water?"

"It's so cool," said Dr. Chang, grinning. "Look at this. We call it _dark water_." Producing a clear tub of the stuff, he put his hand inside. When in the water, his arm remained visible, but his wristwatch and the sleeve of his suit coat disappeared.

Red raised an eyebrow. "Wicked," she admitted.

"Only organic matter can be seen through it," Chang said, drying off his arm. "I keep saying they should use this stuff in swimming pools."

The Doctor looked at him strangely. "Why?"

"Think about it."

The Doctor shook his head. "I am thinking about it. Why?"

"Doesn't matter. 3W, what kind of name is that?" Clara said. "What does it mean?"

"Doctor," whispered the Red Lady to the Time Lord. "I'm going to poke around. Do a little sniffing."

"Sure. Go," nodded the Doctor.

Red disappeared.

* * *

As Clara tried to get in touch with her late boyfriend, the Red Lady explored the vast halls of 3W. But she could find nothing except more and more creepy skeletons in tanks. The hairs on the back of the Red Lady's neck stood up. She felt as though she was being watched...

Soon she found herself back in the corridor where they'd come across Missy. The woman in plum was standing down the hall from Red, her back turned to her. Red quickly ducked behind a pillar when Missy turned around. Luckily, she wasn't spotted. Red cautiously peeked her head out.

Missy appeared to be listening to a handheld device. Red could hear tinny versions of the Doctor, Clara, and Chang's voices coming from it. _Why would a robot need to eavesdrop?_ Red wondered.

Then something caught her attention. A black spherical device with red lights, suspended from the ceiling, almost like a disco ball.

_What the hell is that?_

Suddenly, Missy clapped her hands. Red's blood chilled as all the skeletons in their cages _stood up_.

_Oh my God!_ Red thought to herself. _What the hell is this place?!_

Missy snapped her fingers and smirked. "Humankind...bring out your dead," she sing-songed.

_Okay, I'm gonna go off the script here and assume that's not a robot!_

The skeletons reached out and pressed a button on the side of their tanks. The water began to drain.

_An army of undead walking the Earth? What is she up to?_

Suddenly, the Doctor and Chang entered. Chang spotted the aquariums and gasped. "Oh my God...the tanks. The tanks are activating! They're not supposed to do that!" he yelped.

"And all your dead people are standing," the Doctor said to him. "Don't you think you skipped the headline?"

The Red Lady stuck her head out and caught the Doctor's eye. He nodded to her, silently acknowledging her presence. Red nodded back and pulled back into her hiding spot.

"Now, now, children," Missy scolded them playfully, not noticing the discrete exchange. "Naughty, naughty."

"Doctor Chang, your welcome droid has developed a fault," the Doctor declared.

"That's not a droid," said Chang in confusion. "That's my _boss_!"

"You know, I might have been guilty of a just teensy little fibette," said Missy, wrinkling her nose cutely at the Doctor.

_Yeah, no shit, Sherlock!_ the Red Lady thought.

"Doctor Chang," said Missy, turning back to her subordinate. "I really liked working with you. I've enjoyed every day of it."

Chang blinked. "I'm sorry?"

_Oh no_, thought Red. _Dude, run. Have you never seen a Bond film? You're about to get killed!_

"You know, I've even got a little photograph of you looking so _sweet_," Missy cooed. "I'm always going to keep it. Always!"

Chang seemed to know where this was going, at least. "Are you going to kill me?" he asked timidly.

Missy tilted her head to the side. "Now, come on. Let's not dwell on horrid things. This is going to be our last conversation, and I'm the one who's going to have to live with that." Her voice went up an octave, as if Missy was about to burst into tears. Which Red doubted.

"Please don't kill me," pleaded Chang.

Missy studied him casually. "Say something nice," she ordered.

"Please, please. I don't, I don't want to die," whimpered Chang. "You're going to kill me, aren't you?"

"Say something nice," Missy repeated, slower.

"_Please._"

"Doctor Chang, I've got all day," said Missy. "And I'm not going to kill you until you _say!_ _Something!_ Nice."

"I-it has been an absolute pleasure working with you, and I truly believe that you'll never be able to find it in your heart to murder me!" Chang stammered.

Blowing Chang a kiss, Missy held up her handheld device which fired a blast that incinerated Chang instantly. His ashes floated to the floor.

_Oh my God_.

"Now, I'll be with you in a moment," said Missy to the Doctor. "Just...feeling a bit...emotional...at the moment." She sniffled.

Red couldn't hold in her sharp inhale as she looked again at the tanks. The water level had drained low enough to where the heads of the skeletons - and therefore, the heads of the exoskeletons - were exposed. The dead were encased in very familiar shiny, silver-colored suit of armor.

"Cybermen!" the Doctor gasped.

_Oh my God!_

"They're Cybermen, all of them," the Doctor said, running up to Missy. "We've got to stop them getting out!"

"Now who's missing the headline?" Missy said. "The Nethersphere." She pointed at the black and red apparatus that had caught the Red Lady's eye before. Missy smirked at the Doctor. "You know it's ever so funny, the people that live inside that think they've gone to heaven."

_People that live inside...how is that possible?_ Red wondered.

"That's a Matrix data-slice," the Doctor realized. "A Gallifreyan hard drive." He turned and glared at Missy. "_Time Lord technology_."

_WHAT._

"Imagine you could upload dying minds to that," Missy postulated. "Edit them..._rearrange_ them. Get rid of all those _boring_ emotions. Ready to be re-downloaded. Meanwhile, you _upgrade_ the bodies...upload the mind, upgrade the body. Cybermen from cyberspace. Now, why has no one ever thought of that before?"

_It's a hard drive...for human souls?_

"How did you get hold of Time Lord technology?" the Doctor demanded. "Who are you?"

"You know who I am," said Missy. "I told you. _You felt it_. Surely you did."

The Doctor stared at Missy, trying to understand. "Two hearts."

The Red Lady gasped.

"And both of them yours," Missy said.

"You're a Time Lord," the Doctor declared.

"Time Lady, please, I'm...old-fashioned."

"Which Time Lady?" the Doctor said.

"The one you abandoned, Doctor," Missy answered. "_The one you left for dead._ Didn't you ever think I'd find my way back?"

"Red Lady, watch out!"

Missy rounded the corner where Red was concealed. "The Red Lady. Always sticking her nose where it doesn't belong." Missy held up her handheld to blast Red to dust.

Red squeaked in fear and dematerialized before she could be killed.

Missy tsked. "Always was a tricky little minx," she grumbled.

* * *

Red reappeared in Chang's office, where Clara was speaking emotionally with someone - Danny - on Chang's computer. "Whatever it takes, I will be with you again, I swear," Clara said, determined.

"_No, you won't, you are not coming here!_" a male voice argued on the other end.

"Nothing will stop me," Clara said. "Nothing in the world, as soon as I know it's you."

"_There is only one way to come here, and you are not doing that_," Danny told her firmly.

"I'll do anything, Danny, anything. Just...say something only you could say."

"_Clara, you have your life, you have your whole life to live! You have to stay there!_"

"_No_. I have to be with Danny Pink."

Danny's breath quivered on the other end. "_I love you._"

"Stop saying that! Don't say that. If you say that again, I swear I will switch this thing off!" Clara barked angrily.

"_...Clara?_"

"Yes?"

"_...I love you._"

Clara stared at the com in frustration. She pressed her finger to the screen angrily, cutting off the communication.

"Well, that wasn't very smart," the Red Lady said.

"I just...I couldn't bear to listen to it any longer." Clara began to cry again, shivering.

Red took off her leather jacket and put it around Clara's shoulders. "Here."

Clara pulled it closer to her. "Thank you."

"He really does, you know," said Red. "Love you."

Clara sniffled. "How do you know?"

"Because...he's afraid that you're going to kill yourself getting to where he is. And he wants you to live."

Clara cried more tears. "Really?"

Red nodded.

"Oh, God, what've I done?" Clara blubbered, crying harder.

Once again, Red marveled at how much of Darla she saw in her. Clara hadn't gone through the Time War like Darla had, but she had suffered in other ways. Losing her mum at age 19 (only a few years older than the Red Lady when she'd lost her own father), then seeing plenty of conflict in her travels with the Doctor, and now, the man she loved was dead. And she still stayed so strong.

Red took a deep breath, making up her mind. "Clara...I'm going to get him back for you."

Clara gasped and stood up. "What? Red Lady, how?"

"Just trust me, Brown Eyes," said the Red Lady. "I know where he is. You just wait here. I'll pop in, extract him, and be back before you can say 'Bob's your uncle'."

"But...why would you do that for me?" Clara blinked those big brown eyes. "You don't know him. You hardly know me."

Red looked sorrowfully at her. "Because you know that someone once loved me. But she died," Red said finally. "And I would give anything to have her back, even if it was just to say goodbye. It's too late for her. But not for Danny, and not for you."

Clara's lip trembled. "Red Lady..."

"Yes?"

Clara stood up and threw her arms around her. "_Thank you_," she whispered.

Red smiled sadly, then hugged her back. "Don't mention it." She pulled away and made to go back to where the Nethersphere was.

"Wait," said Clara, taking off Red's jacket and holding it out to her. "Your coat."

The Red Lady looked at it and shook her head. "Nah. Keep it...it looks better on you anyway." Then she marched out.

* * *

Danny stared the iPad in his hand, his finger shaking as he made to press the DELETE button. Tears dripped from his eyes. "I'm sorry, Clara," he whispered.

"Danny Pink, don't hit that button just yet!" a sharp voice called.

Danny jumped at the sound. There was a young woman wearing a red shirt and blue jeans, with long red hair and a round face, standing behind him. "W-who are you?" _I didn't kill you too, did I?_ he added mentally.

"My name is the Red Lady," said the girl. "I'm a friend of Clara's, and the Doctor."

"Clara?" Danny repeated, eyes widening.

"Yes. I'm here to take you to her." The Red Lady outstretched her arms to him. "Give me your hand."

* * *

"Clara?"

The girl turned around. "Red Lady?"

"No," said Red, shaking her head. "It's me. Danny. The Red Lady let me use her body."

Clara faltered. "R-really?"

Danny nodded Red's head. "Yes."

Clara trembled. "Oh...Danny!" She rushed into "Red's" arms and fervently hugged him/her/them. Then she leaned up and kissed them.

Danny and the Red Lady, from inside her head, watched through her eyes. "Is that alright?" Danny asked.

Red smiled tearfully. "Yeah."

"Danny, I do love you, I do," Clara swore as Danny held her.

"I know, Clara," Danny said, kissing her head. Then he hugged her again. "I wish I could be with you for real."

"Me too," said Clara. "I promise, the Doctor and I are going to rescue you. Do you hear me, Danny?...Danny?"

Red's face had gone blank in confusion.

"Danny?" Clara said.

Red blinked, then looked at Clara. "No. It's me. Danny...he's gone."

"Gone?" said Clara, panicking. "Where?"

"I don't know," said Red. "But look, there's something weird going on here. That welcome bot, Missy. She's not what she says she is."

"What is she?" Clara asked.

"I...I don't know," Red admitted. "But I'm going to go find out. But we'll try our damnedest to save Danny, I swear. Do you trust me?"

Clara nodded. "I do."

Red nodded. "Good. I'll be back."

"Okay. I'll wait here."

Red disappeared.

Clara took a seat again, pulling in the soft leather of Red's jacket around her. It felt comforting.

Suddenly, Clara had the strange feeling she wasn't alone. Slowly, she swiveled around in her chair.

A Cyberman was standing there.

Clara gasped and jumped up, racing for the door, but it was deadlocked. "Doctor! _Red Lady_!" she cried for help.

* * *

The Red Lady materialized in the TARDIS console room. "TARDIS, I need you to analyze a piece of DNA for me. I think it came from a Time Lord."

A small hatch opened in the console and the TARDIS produced a Petri dish sitting on a tiny mechanical arm for Red to place the DNA sample into. Red placed inside it a long brown hair.

_"You also have not received the official welcome package." Missy stepped toward Red and Clara._

_"Hey, now…" As Red stopped the strange woman, she discreetly picked a hair from the shoulder of her purple overcoat._

The TARDIS swallowed the sample and began analyzing.

"Another Time Lord. It's impossible," Red muttered to herself. "Missy, Time Lady, 'the one you left for dead', ARRRRGH!" The Red Lady roughed up her hair in frustration. "I'm missing something, something important. But what?!"

The TARDIS chirped at her.

"What do you mean, you know who she is? TARDIS, tell me!" Red hollered.

Another groan from the TARDIS.

"You want me to _what_?" The Red Lady blushed. "Oh TARDIS, I hardly think that's appropriate."

The ship creaked again, more meaningfully.

"Oh alright." The Red Lady rounded the console and stood at the viscous, peach-colored, endoplasmic reticulum of the TARDIS's telepathic circuit and slid her hands in. "Now what is it you've got to tell m-" Suddenly, Red gasped sharply and threw her head back as the TARDIS downloaded her brain with information. A million images flashed across her mind's eye.

And then, in less than a second, it was over. Red pulled her hands out of the circuit. "But-" gasped Red, suddenly breathless. "No, that's-! He-! _She!_" Red dashed for the front doors. "The Doctor. I have to tell the Doctor!"

* * *

The Doctor was running around the area, waving his arms and shouting like a madman. "Get away from here! All of you, run!"

Go! Go! Get away from here! Run away! Run, run! Get away from here all of you, now!"

Missy was waiting for him on some stone steps. "I'm sorry, everyone!" she called to the confused passersby. "Another ranting Scotsman in the street, I had no idea there was a match on."

"Get away, go!" the Doctor shouted insistently.

Missy sprang up and grabbed the Doctor by the arm. "Stop shouting, love," she calmly ordered. "Stop making a fuss. It's too late." She smiled sweetly. "All the graves of planet Earth are about to give birth."

The Doctor stared at her in horror.

"You know the key strategic weakness of the human race?" Missy continued smugly. "The _dead_ outnumber the _living_."

The Doctor gulped. "Who are you?" he demanded to know.

"Oh, you know who I am," Missy clucked in the Doctor's ear. "I'm Missy."

The Doctor felt an eerie chill go up his spine. It was unknown, yet...so familiar. "Who's Missy?" he whispered.

Missy rolled her makeup'd blue eyes. "Oh, _please_. Try to keep up...short for _Mistress_. Well..." She smiled lasciviously as the Doctor slowly turned around to face her. "...couldn't very well keep calling myself '_the Master_'. Now could I?"

The Doctor's impressive eyebrows knit together in confusion. "The Master? Who's the Master? I've never heard of you."

"Oh, silly dear. Don't you remember?" The Mistress grinned broadly, her pearly white teeth bright against her lipstick red lips. "I'm your _wife_!"


	22. Strawberry Fields, Part 4

**Okay, SORRY, uploaded the wrong doc! LOL. THIS is the real "Strawberry Fields, Part 4". The other thing was a chapter to my OTHER fan fiction, _You Are Not Alone_. Geez, why didn't somebody tell me I goofed? Lol. -TRL**

* * *

Red appeared in the middle of London, with the Doctor and Missy. "Doctor!" gasped Red at the sight of the Time Lord. "Thank God I found you! Listen to me, Missy is really-"

"Not now, Red Lady," said the Doctor.

Red looked at Missy, then the Doctor. "But...she-"

"I said, not now!"

"But it's important!"

"If you can't tell, I'm a little busy at the moment!" The Doctor gestured around to the fleet of Cybermen roaming the streets.

Red looked at Missy. "You. What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?"

"Um, whatever I want?" said Missy with a flippant shrug.

"But..." Red couldn't believe it. "This isn't like you! Not anymore! You _changed_, you're good now! Don't you remember?"

Missy rolled her eyes. "I'd forgotten just how _annoying_ your dear little pets can be, my dear Doctor."

Red squinted at her. "Something's wrong with you. You're acting like you barely know me. I'm one of your best friends, Master."

"Sorry," said Missy. "I don't make friends with apes."

_What's happened to her? It's like she doesn't remember anything important..._

The Cybermen wandered through the people, who were looking very confused by their presence. "Look at them!" sighed Missy in satisfaction. "My boys!"

"Cybermen in broad daylight," said the Doctor, staring at the metal men apprehensively. "You think people won't notice?"

"Uh, Doctor?" said the Red Lady, also looking around. "I think they've noticed."

The people had noticed, in fact. And most of them were whipping out their phones to take pictures and selfies to post to Instagram and Snapchat and Twitter.

Missy elegantly unpinned her hat and dropped it on the ground at her feet, base up. "Photos with the big metal men, one pound!" she called.

Red stared at her, lifting an eyebrow. "That's your big evil plan? Use your shiny army of robots to pick up a few pence?"

"No, but Mama does need to buy a new dress eventually," Missy smirked.

The Doctor exhaled in frustration that no one was causing a commotion. Missy tsked at him and stuck out her bottom lip. "Oh, honey..."

"I assume you've got these things all over the world," Red said.

"Natch," Missy said, pulling out her handheld device. It had a screen on it, like a smartphone. She showed the Doctor and the Red Lady pictures people were already sharing from all over the planet. "New York, Paris, Rome, Marrakesh, Brisbane...Glasgow." Missy giggled. "Everywhere, anywhere. Me and my boys! We're going viral." Missy raised her phone to take a selfie with the Doctor, puckering her lips.

"Would you like me to take a picture?" A young woman with brown hair and glasses had appeared. She was wearing a red bow tie. "Sorry, selfies are never as good, are they? And you're having a lovely moment. Hang on!" The woman snatched the device from Missy's hand.

"No, just-" Missy started to protest, but the Doctor grabbed her arm. Missy glowered.

The Doctor looked at the young woman. "Nice bow tie," he commented.

The woman smiled. "Bow ties are cool." She stepped back and held up the device, as if to take a picture. "Big smiles, and..._now_!"

Suddenly, soldiers burst from concealment, and people who were seemingly civilians pulled guns from their strollers or purses, aiming straight at Missy.

Red looked at the woman. "Who _are_ you?" she asked in amazement.

"UNified Intelligence Taskforce," said the woman with a cocky smile. "You can call me Osgood."

Red smiled back, her eyes running over Osgood pointedly. "And you can call _me_ maybe."

Osgood's eyes widened, her cheeks coloring. She fumblingly pulled an inhaler from her pocket and took a puff from it.

"Afternoon!" called a tall blonde woman in a boyfriend jacket as she approached them. Her hands were behind her back. "You've picked a _lovely_ day for it." She looked at the Cybermen. "My, don't you look shiny." Then she looked at the Doctor. "Haircut?" she asked casually.

"Bit of a trim," blinked the Doctor, taken as much by surprise by UNIT's advent as the Red Lady.

"Might want to do your roots," teased the blonde woman. Then she nodded to her men. "The woman."

"Yes, ma'am." A soldier grabbed Red by the arm.

"Hey!" Red barked.

"No, the one in purple," the blonde woman clarified.

The soldier looked at Red. "So sorry." He released her and took a hold of Missy instead.

The blonde woman turned the Cybermen. "Kate Stewart," she introduced herself. "Divorcee, mother of two, keen gardener, outstanding bridge player. Also Chief Scientific Officer, UNified Intelligence Taskforce, who currently have you surrounded."

"The Brigadier's daughter?" Red asked the Doctor quietly. "She was just a baby last time I saw her."

"She's grown up," the Doctor replied simply.

"_Human weaponry is not effective against Cyber technology_," said one of the Cybermen to Kate.

"Sorry, you left this behind on one of your previous attempts." Kate threw the head of a classic Mondas Cybermen onto the ground before the Cyberman. "So now that I have your attention, welcome to the only planet in the universe where we get to say this." Kate pointed at the Doctor. "He's on the payroll."

"Am I?" said the Doctor in surprise.

"Well, technically."

"How much?"

"Shush," Kate told him, then she looked back at the Cybers. "Any questions?"

Suddenly, in unison, the Cyber army banged their fists against their center breastplate and stamped their feet on the ground. The wind picked us as the Cybermen's foot-jets ignited. "Back, back, everyone, back!" ordered a soldier. Everyone backed up. The Cybermen lifted off into the skies and disappeared in different directions, leaving vapor trails in their wake.

"Oh my God," gasped Osgood, and everyone turned to see that the steeple of Saint Paul's cathedral was opening up. "Is it supposed to do that? Is that new?" Osgood babbled.

"A sun roof on Saint Paul's? Yes, I'd say that was new," the Doctor replied sarcastically.

More Cybermen flew out of the building to join their ranks in the sky. "There's going to be mass panic, everyone in London can see that," Kate worried.

"Everyone in London just clapped and went 'whee'," the Doctor told her hurriedly. "Hush, I'm trying to count."

"87, I think," said Osgood. "OCD."

"91," Missy corrected. She smirked and shrugged nonchalantly. "Queen of evil."

Red gulped. "91 Cybermen? That's not that many," she said uncertainly.

"_One_ Cyberman is too many already," the Doctor said bitterly. "And there's sure to be more to follow. They multiply like Catholic bunnies."

"How could Saint Paul's be full of 91 Cybermen and nobody noticed?" Kate inquired.

"Dimensional engineering," the Doctor explained. "One space folded inside another...bigger on the inside." The Doctor turned to glare at Missy. "Easy if you're a Time Lord."

Missy smiled cutely.

"Mostly deploying south, a smaller number east," Osgood announced.

"Yep, but one straight up," the Doctor said.

"So 91 isn't a coincidence?"

"Of course it isn't," the Doctor growled, taking Missy's handheld from Osgood and operating it.

"Osgood? 91. Explain," said Kate.

"91 areas of significant population density in the British Isles," Osgood replied.

"That's one Cyberman for every city and major town," said the Doctor, stalking over to Missy. "It's happening everywhere, all over the world, right now."

"Sweet planet, this," said Missy craftily. "I think I might keep it."

"_Why are you doing this?_" the Doctor whispered to Missy. "What do you hope to accomplish by taking over the Earth? What would a Time Lord need with a planet? And how did you escape Gallifrey anyway? And why did you say you're my _wife_? My wife died a long time ago!"

"_Second_ wife, Doctor dear," Missy replied. "Why are _you_ pretending you don't know who I am?"

"He's not pretending," said the Red Lady, joining them. "When you were pulled into the crack in the universe, you were erased from _existence_ \- and our memories. I only remember you because the TARDIS retained your data in its memory banks and filled me in."

"So you really have forgotten me," said Missy, gazing at the Doctor. Her blue eyes shone sadly. Then her eyebrows set. "Then I'll just have to remind you."

"Doctor!" shouted Osgood.

The Cyberman that had been hovering right over London exploded in midair with a great boom. It left a giant, dark purple cloud in its wake.

"Has it exploded?" Kate asked confusedly.

"More than that," said Missy knowingly. "Cybermen don't just blow themselves up for no good reason, dear...they're not _human_."

"If it's not exploding, what's it doing?" asked the Doctor.

"Pollinating," answered Missy. "Falling like rain into the cracks of the Earth. The dead are coming home, Doctor." Missy stepped forward and straightened the lapels of the Doctor's coat. "All shiny and new." Missy stared the Doctor right in the eye. "In twenty four hours, the human race as you know it will cease to exist."

Red shuddered.

"What are you doing?" the Doctor whispered. "Explain. Tell me now."

Suddenly, one of Kate's soldiers fired a knock-out dart into Missy's neck. Missy's eyelids fluttered and she raised a hand to her neck. "Oh, that was nice, must...do it again." Missy collapsed and crumpled at her knees, two soldiers snatching her up.

"No, no, no, no, no, I need to talk to her! I need her awake!" the Doctor shouted. A dart was fired into his neck too.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Red shouted.

"No, no, no. Stupid, stupid!" The Doctor yanked the dart from his neck, fighting as he began to black out like his fellow Time Lord. "No, no..."

As Osgood leant over the Doctor, Kate looked at the Red Lady. "What?" said Red, crossing her arms. "Gonna shoot me too?"

"I doubt the tranq would even work on you," Kate said. "I've read my father's files; I know all about you. We can't hope to contain you. But we can hope that you're willing to cooperate."

Red hesitated, _not_ happy that the Doctor had been knocked out. But then she nodded. "I'll help anyway I can. But first I have to go check on someone."

"Very good," Kate nodded. She turned and away and spoke into her mobile. "The first protocol is implemented. We're good to go," she reported.

Red flashed out.

The Doctor pulled Osgood close and whispered something to her, and then passed out. "What did he say?" Kate asked her.

Osgood blinked up at her. "He said...'guard the graveyards'."


	23. Strawberry Fields, Part 5

Red appeared back inside of Saint Paul's, right next to Clara Oswald. "I'm back! You wouldn't _believe_-" Red froze, realizing she and Clara were bracketed by Cybermen. "Oh."

"And look, this is my trusty companion, the Red Lady!" said Clara, grabbing Red's hand and squeezing it. "Always following my orders, like a good little human. Which I am not. Red Lady, tell them all about how I'm _the Doctor_ and _not_ Clara Oswald." Clara looked at Red pointedly.

Red raised an eyebrow in confusion, then snapped to. "Oh, uhh...yes! This _is_ the Doctor. With a TARDIS and everything. Two hearts, 27 brains, the whole shebang."

"See? There we go. I'm the Doctor. Told you," said Clara.

"_You are Clara Oswald_," declared one of the Cybermen.

"Urgh, no, I'm not!" Clara groaned in frustration, as another Cyberman came walking up to them.

"_Your deception is intended to prolong your life_," stated the new Cyberman.

"_Your presence has not been ordered_," said Cyberman 1.

"_Correct_," agreed Cyberman 2. "_You are Clara Oswald_."

"Oh, seriously, this is getting old," Clara sighed. "Look, there is no Clara Oswald. I invented her. I made her up."

"_Born 23rd November, 1986_."

"Yeah, I chose that date. Always liked it."

"_Father: David James Oswald. Mother: Elena Alison Oswald_."

"Stories, stories, stories," Clara babbled. "I made them up. Look, ask anybody who knows me. I am an incredible liar."

The Cyberman, curiously, seemed to hang his head. "_Correct_," it croaked.

Red was squinting at the Cyberman. He seemed...oddly familiar. Emotional. "How does he know all that about you?" she asked Clara suspiciously.

Clara looked at her queerly. "Huh?"

"Clara...I think this is-!"

Suddenly, the suspicious Cyberman took Red by surprise and blasted her with a bolt of energy with his finger. Red fell onto the floor, unconscious.

"Hey!" yelped Clara, but then she was treated the same way, falling beside the Red Lady on the floor.

"_No order was given_," repeated Cyberman 1.

"_Correct_."

"_You are not under Cyber control_."

The rogue Cyberman destroyed the others with a blaster in his wrist. "_Correct_."

Leaving Red there to sleep it off, the Cyberman bent and picked up Clara, flying off with her.

Several minutes later (the shock did not affect her enhanced mind the way it would a normal human), Red woke up in confusion. She looked around, seeing the remains of the destroyed Cybermen. There was no sign of Clara.

Red groaned. "_Danny_." Well. At least she knew Clara was safe hands...she thought. Then she remembered the Doctor and the Master, still in the clutches of UNIT. "I've gotta figure out what happened to Koschei," she muttered to herself. "Something's happened to her. I need to reconcile her and the Doctor!" Closing her eyes, Red dematerialized out.

* * *

Red reappeared inside a plane, midair. Osgood was working at a table at one end, and Missy, strapped to an upright stretcher on wheels (not unlike the one from "The End Of Time"), was at the other, guarded by two soldiers. At Red's sudden appearance, the soldiers raised their gun, aiming for her.

"No!" exclaimed Osgood, stepping forward. "It's alright. She's with us."

The soldiers slowly lowered their weapons.

Red gulped and smiled nervously at Osgood. "Thanks. I'm a lot of things, but bulletproof ain't one of them."

"I know," said Osgood. "You almost died when Lucy Saxon shot you on the _Valiant_."

"In her defense, she wasn't aiming for me - wait, you know who I am?"

"Naturally. You're a UNIT legend, Red Lady," Osgood replied. "I read your file."

Red smiled flirtatiously. "You, uh, studyin' up on me, Specs? Find anything interesting?" She winked.

Osgood blushed. "Oh, w-well, I..." She took another nervous puff from her inhaler.

Suddenly, something occurred to the Red Lady. "Hey, if the Master was erased from existence, then you shouldn't have known about the year that never happened. Or any of the Master's past exploits. They don't technically exist."

"When the Doctor was working for UNIT in the '70s - or maybe it was the '80s, there was an error in the records, so we're not entirely sure - he upgraded our computer system in case of reality glitches. The Master technically never existed, but we still had the information on him. I mean, her."

"Convenient." Red looked at Missy, who was fast asleep in her stretcher. "I need to interrogate the Master, Osgood. Something's wrong. The Master's not supposed to be evil anymore. Something must've happened to her."

"That's what I thought too," said Osgood. "Didn't the Master and the Doctor get married?"

"Yep, and the Master helped the Doctor protect the universe for a long time. But then the Master got sucked into the cracks in the universe on Satellite Five and now...it's like she's lost some of her memory. But she remembers being married to the Doctor - that's the most puzzling thing."

Osgood rubbed her chin. "Maybe whatever happened to her when she was pulled into the cracks in the universe, caused her to lose her sanity."

Red's eyes lit up. She looked at Osgood. "You're good."

Osgood smiled a tiny bit. "You have no idea."

Red smirked at her, then turned and walked over to the snoozing Master. "Alright, rise and shine, Missy. I know you're not asleep."

Missy's blue eyes fluttered open, and she smiled at the Red Lady mischievously. She giggled. "Caught me."

"Master, what happened to you when you were taken from us?" Red asked. "You know you're married to the Doctor, but you don't remember our friendship - or the fact that you're a good guy now. Did something happen to you?"

Missy sighed. "A lot's happened to me. It tends to when you've been waiting around for your useless husband for two thousand and two years."

"Two thousand and two years?" Red asked.

"The year 12 AD, dear. That's the year I appeared back on Earth...after the Time Lords were done having their way with me."

"The Time Lords?"

"Yes, the Time Lords," tsked Missy impatiently. "Good Omega, I know you're called _apes_ but that doesn't mean you have to _literally_ mimic everything I say. Where do you think those cracks led me? Gallifrey, of course. It wasn't after several years of torture from Rassilon and his cabinet - and regenerating into the superb form you see before you - that I was able to escape and get back to my precious husband. I knew he'd find me on Earth eventually. He once said he'd always be able to locate where I was - all he had to do was follow the trail of dead bodies. So I thought, what better way to lead the Doctor straight to me but doing exactly that? Leaving a trail of bodies. And so, 3W was created. Of course, he could have found me a _tiny_ bit sooner, but hey, what's two millennia between old friends?"

"You waited over two thousands years for him," said Red breathlessly. "You _must_ love him."

"Obviously," said Missy in a droll voice.

"But then why the Cyber army?" Red asked. "If you love the Doctor, why are you terrorizing the race he protects?"

"That's what I'd like to know," said a male Scottish voice as the Doctor stepped out of the shadows. He glared at Missy. "I still don't remember you," he admitted. "But I have read the UNIT file on you. You used to be my worst enemy."

"_Best_ enemy," Missy corrected. "But go on."

"But you switched sides. You agreed to work with me. We..." The Doctor cleared his throat. "We got married."

"And had wild sexcapades, I assure you," Missy snickered. "You _loved_ me, Doctor. And deep down, you still do."

The Doctor swallowed. "Gonna explain the Cybermen?"

"Not yet."

"Or why you've gone back to the Dark Side?"

"I'm bananas, darling. The Time Lords drove me insane again, thought that was fairly obvious. Next question."

"Okay. Our planet," said the Doctor. "Gallifrey's lost in another dimension."

Missy tilted her head consideringly. "Yes and no."

"Meaning?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes, it's in another dimension. No, it's not lost."

"You know where it is?" the Doctor asked, almost hopefully.

"Yep! You know the best part about knowing?" Missy asked. She leaned closer to the Doctor. "_Not. Telling. You_." She bit her lip at him mockingly.

The Doctor glared back at her.

"_Mister President, sir, we're ready for you up here_," called someone over the intercom.

Red lifted an eyebrow at the Doctor. "I'm sorry, 'President'? What the hell did I miss?"

"Not much." The Doctor looked over his shoulder at Missy as he made to exit. "Remember all those years when all you wanted to do was to rule the world?" The Doctor looked up at the speaker and replied. "On my way."

"_Thank you, Mister President_."

The Doctor looked back at Missy and shrugged. "Piece of cake."

Missy scowled at him. Red barely contained a snort.

As the Doctor was heading back out, he stopped by Osgood's station to check out what she was working on. "Oh, er, it's her little device thingy," Osgood explained. "I thought there might be useful information on it...gosh, I just can't believe it's the _Master_."

The Doctor sighed. "Neither can I. I see those reality-proof computers came in handy."

"We do have files on all our ex-prime ministers. She wasn't even the worst."

"Not as bad as Thatcher," Red agreed.

"Doctor, there's something nobody's talking about," Osgood said. "The clouds caused by the exploding Cybermen, they haven't dispersed. They're still there. In fact, they've expanded and are covering almost all the land masses. We're all looking at the graveyards. Maybe we should be looking up? What do you think?"

The Doctor was staring at her consideringly. "All of time and space?" he offered.

Osgood blinked behind her glasses. "Sorry?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Just something for your bucket list," he said before climbing up the ladder.

Mouth agape, Osgood looked the Red Lady, as if asking if that had really happened. Red grinned at her. Then she remembered - Clara. "Doctor," she said, following him. The Doctor looked down at her from the ladder. "Clara...I don't know where she is. She was taken from St. Paul's."

The Doctor's face turned stormy.

"But I believe she's safe," said Red quickly. She lowered her voice to make sure Missy couldn't overhear. "The Cyberman who took her - I think it was her boyfriend. And I don't think he was under Cyber control."

"That's impossible," said the Doctor.

"She's your impossible girl," Red pointed out.

The Doctor pursed his lips. "Come on. Kate will want to brief you, or some stupid military thing like that."

Red nodded and followed him up the ladder.

* * *

"Oh good, you're here," said Kate to the Red Lady as she and the Doctor came in. A group of people in suits were all sitting around a boardroom table, apparently having had waited for the Doctor to arrive. "Have you had a chance to interrogate the Master, Doctor?"

"We both have," said the Doctor. "And we're both still in the dark."

"But I think I know why the Master's acting this way," Red spoke up. "Something about getting sucked into the cracks warped her memory."

"That's poppycock," the Doctor said. "Rory Pond was totally fine when he'd been erased."

"Yeah, but...let's face it, Doctor, Koschei's mind has always been a bit fragile. _And_ the Master was apparently tortured by the Time Lords in her...his...their? absence. It's no wonder this regeneration came out a little unstable."

"Unstable? You call resurrecting the dead in the form of metal men and terrorizing Great Britain 'unstable'?"

"Well...yeah?"

"Believe it or not, it wouldn't be the worst stunt the Master's ever pulled," Kate admitted.

The Doctor shook his head in frustration. "We're not focusing on the issue at hand. What about the storm clouds? I'm much more concerned with them at the moment."

"You're right," Kate said. She picked up a remote and turned on the TV to the news, which was featuring Missy's clouds. "_Localized rain in the cemeteries has resulted in what can only be described as 'disturbances' in the soil_," said the announcer as shots of empty graves and tombs were shown. "_Extraordinary eyewitness accounts are claiming that silver creatures are climbing from the graves._"

"These scenes are being repeated everywhere," said Kate to the room. "Every cemetery, every mortuary, every funeral home, every hospital. The dead are returning to life as Cybermen."

"_The public are being advised to stay away from all cemeteries_," continued the newscaster.

"That won't keep them safe," Red commented flatly. "You heard Missy - 'the dead outnumber the living'. Soon the entire _living_ human race will be outnumbered _billions_ to one."

"It's all we can do at the moment," said Kate. "We can't explain these phenomena, and we can't stop them." She pressed a button on the remote, and the picture switched from the news to a computerized image of Missy's spores raining down on a graveyard. "We've done heat scans at some of the cemeteries and each case, only a handful of Cybermen have so far emerged." The picture swept below the surface of the earth to where the bodies were buried underneath. Several lit up in blue as the corpse inside was animated by the spore. "But every individual burial site is active."

"Active?" repeated a man in uniform questioningly.

"Hatching," the Doctor said.

"More are coming," Kate continued. "Potentially millions."

"So the rain caused all that in just a few hours?" the uniformed man asked.

"It wasn't _rain_, Man Scout, it was pollen," the Doctor said impatiently, rubbing his forehead. He stood up to stalk around the table. "Cyberpollen. Every tiny particle of a Cyberman contains the plans to make another Cyberman."

"It's like DNA," Red said.

"_Exactly_ like DNA," the Doctor said. "But more like a viral infection. All it has to do make contact with compatible living organic matter, and bang, full conversion." He stopped and leaned on the back of a chair toward his audience. "But if they have learned to convert the dead..." The Doctor looked up a CCTV screen at Missy in the cargo bay. Missy stared back at him and smirked, as if she knew at that moment he was looking at her. "That's what she was doing," the Doctor whispered. "That's what 3W was for. She creates an all new paranoia about among the super rich about dying. She exploits the wealth and the mortal remains of selected idiots so she can create a whole new Cyber race."

"She said she waited on you for two thousand and two years," said Red. "That the trail of corpses would eventually lead you to her."

The Doctor swallowed. "And those corpses will make more corpses." He looked at the uniformed man sitting across from Kate. "Throw away your guns, Man Scout, it's all over. How can you win a war against an army that can _weaponize the dead_?"

"But we still don't know _why_," the Red Lady persisted. "Why build an army in the first place? This was all so she could reunite with you, Doctor. How does an army fit into that?"

"And what is the army's aim?" Man Scout - Colonel Ahmed - added. "Every army is fighting _for_ or _against_ something. That much I know. But so far, except for rising up out of their graves, they haven't _done_ anything. They're not attacking, apart from isolated incidents, they're just wandering about."

"Every army also needs commands, Colonel," Red replied. "A leader to follow. And right now, they're not receiving any orders from their general 'cause we've got her right here." Red nodded up at Missy on the CCTV. "They're not standing still, they are lying in wait."

The Doctor looked at Kate. "Why were you there this morning? Why were you already attacking?"

"Been investigating 3W for a while, then we got a tip off."

"From a woman with a Scottish accent," added Ahmed.

Red snorted. "Always showboating. So eager to get caught."

"Can't play to the gallery if there isn't a gallery, and here I am," the Doctor agreed.

Missy on the CCTV stuck her tongue out.

"Dead bodies don't have minds of course," said the Doctor, ignoring her. "But she's been uploading dying minds to a hard drive for a long time. So she upgrades the hardware, then she updates the software."

"Makes them harder, better, faster, stronger," Red contributed.

"What do you mean a long time? How long?" Kate asked.

"Well, she must have a TARDIS somewhere, so as long as she likes," the Doctor said.

Red suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "Doctor, you might be right. And if there's another TARDIS in the near vicinity, our ship will be able to locate it."

"Good idea, Red. You can go down there and try to find Missy's ship. And try to triangulate Clara while you're at it. The TARDIS should have a record of her biometrics."

"Roger dodger," Red said, turning and heading back to the cargo bay.

Missy smirked at Red as she passed her on the way into the TARDIS. Red pointedly ignored her. Missy chuckled and began to hum "Hey, Mickey" by Toni Basil to herself.


	24. Strawberry Fields, Part 6

**Sorry it's been a while. Busy with...stuff. Here's some more Red Lady.**

* * *

The Red Lady was trying to trace another large source of archon energy in the nearby area with the TARDIS wide scanners, but nothing was popping up. Red sighed. "She must have one wicked powerful cloaking device on this thing...clever girl." Red was trying to think of another way a fellow TARDIS could be located, but her thoughts were interrupted as the ship suddenly began to rock wildly.

"Whoa-oh!" Red yelped, grabbing onto the side of the console. "What the hell? Are we moving?" Red checked the systems. "No...it's an external force...something's happening with the plane!" Red stumbled across the wobbling floor to make it outside.

The plane was indeed trembling when Red threw the door open. And Missy was swinging with the motion of the aircraft, hanging onto to two handholds dangling from the ceiling. "How the hell did you get free?!" Red shouted over the whistling turbulence, clinging to the side of the TARDIS to hold herself up.

"Wheeeee..." laughed Missy.

"KOSCHEI!" Red hollered.

Missy jerked at the utterance of her childhood name, and looked at Red hawkishly. "What?" she pouted.

"How did you..." Red froze, realizing they were alone. She could have sworn there were two guards flanking Missy...and Osgood... "Where are the others?!" Red called.

"Oh, you mean that cute little poindexter?" Missy bent down, scooped something up from the floor, and tossed it to Red. Red caught it and looked at the item in horror.

A pair of thick black glasses. Mangled, the lenses shattered.

Red looked up at Missy. "You _killed_ Osgood?" she choked.

Missy shrugged. "Queen of evil."

Red felt her stomach drop, her insides go cold. Her whole body slumped, her knees barely holding her up. "But...but I liked her," she said.

"I could tell," smirked Missy. "So did the Doctor." She grinned. "_That's why I killed her_...oh!" Missy held a hand up to her ear. "Listen...d'ya hear that? It's a-comin'..."

Red, stricken with shock, ambled back inside the TARDIS. _I can't believe it. Missy killed someone. The Master really is gone..._ She ignored the vague sound of the TARDIS phone ringing outside.

But Red didn't get much time to mourn, because a minute later...

"Whoaaaaaaa!"

Red was slammed into the railing around central island in the control room. She held on for dear life as the TARDIS did cartwheels. Red looked over her shoulder at the spanner showing the outside view. It was hard to tell, but it looked like rain clouds. _The ship! She's fallen out of the plane! Gotta reach...the..._ Red strained her arm for the console while still clinging to the banister. She managed to pull down on a lever. _Stabilizer!_

The TARDIS paused its free fall and hovered peacefully in the air. Its inner gravity righted itself, and Red got back on her feet. "Good grief!" she exclaimed. "That has been just about enough excitement for me for one da-"

Suddenly the TARDIS doors swung open and the Doctor came flying in sideways. His stickbug-like body crashed into Red, toppling them both to the floor.

"Umph," Red grunted from underneath the Doctor. Well, at least he was light. She would have smothered under, say, the sixth incarnation of the Doctor.

"Good catch, Red Lady," said the Doctor springing up and jogging over to the console.

"Yeah, it was...my pleasure," said Red, picking herself up.

"Now, we need to get to Clara, and lucky for me, she called the TARDIS and now I can find her. So it should be just a hop, skip, and a jump...aha, yes! Got her!" The Doctor threw up a switch and the TARDIS took off. The Doctor fondly patted the console. "Thank you, old girl. You know I hate it when I die falling."

Red immediately recalled the Logopolis incident. "Hey, Doctor. The Master was involved with your fourth self's death. So how do you remember that if he never existed."

The Doctor pursed his lips. "I'm not sure. It's all kind of fuzzy. Surprised the Blinovitch effect hasn't caused a total rewrite of my memories."

The Red Lady reached out. "I could fill in the gaps...let me help. Because I can't understand what made Koschei like this. Why she would build this army...kill Osgood."

The Doctor's jaw tightened.

"Doctor, please," said Red softly. "If anything, it may hold the key to stopping her plans."

The Doctor looked at her piercingly, then finally sighed. "Alright," he conceded.

Red touched her fingers to the Doctor's temples. "My mind to your mind-"

"And no _Star Trek_ references!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"O-_kay_." Red squeezed her eyes shut, quickly transferring all the knowledge the TARDIS had downloaded her with of the Master. The information passed through Red's fingertips into the Doctor's brain in less than two seconds.

The Doctor's eyes popped. "My God...she _is_ my wife!"

"And all this time I thought you had a thing for blondes," quipped Red.

"She's gone insane...well, insan_er_," the Doctor said. "In any event, we'll stop what she's up to." The Doctor adjusted some controls.

"Doctor?" said Red tentatively. "She killed Osgood."

The Doctor paused. He looked down. "She's killed a lot of people."

"What if she's not crazy, Doctor?...What if this is just the way she is?"

The Doctor stared off into the distance. "Then I'll stop her," he growled quietly. "Permanently."

Red didn't respond.

The TARDIS landed with a thump. The Doctor headed for the door. "Come on," he said.

* * *

They had materialized in a graveyard, full of Cybermen. Several yards away, Clara was standing before one of them - Danny - fiddling with something in his chestplate. "Clara, don't!" The Doctor cried, dashing across the yellowed grass toward them, Red trudging behind him.

Clara turned to the Doctor. "Help me," she said.

"If you do what you're trying to do, if you succeed, he will _snap_ you-"

"No-"

"Then he will step over your broken body and break another, and another, and another. He will never stop," the Doctor spat.

"I will not harm her."

The Cyber-Danny had spoken up, staring directly at the Doctor.

"This should be impossible - how does he still have his agency?" Red said.

"He said there's something in his chest - an emotional inhibitor or something," Clara said. "I was trying to turn it on. He was in pain."

"Clara, the Doctor's right. You activate that, you turn your boyfriend into a literal killing machine. And you would be his first confirmed kill."

"I will _not_ harm her," Danny repeated insistently.

The Doctor stepped up to Danny and studied him, a quiet horrified look in his eyes. "P.E., P.E...P.E.," he sighed ruefully.

"Sir," Danny growled mockingly.

"I had a friend once," the Doctor said. "We ran together when I was little. And I thought we were the same. But when we grew up, we weren't. Now, she's trying to tear the world apart, and I can't run fast enough to hold it together. The difference is this." The Doctor put his hand over Danny's chest disc. "Pain is a gift. Without the capacity for pain, we can't feel the hurt we inflict."

"Are you telling me seriously, for real, that you can?" Danny inquired.

"Of course I can," the Doctor admitted.

"Then shame on you, Doctor," the almost Cyberman whispered.

"Yes," the Doctor agreed. "Oh, yes."

The storm clouds rumbled ominously. "Danny, Danny, I need you to tell me. What are the clouds going to do? What is the plan?" the Doctor asked frantically.

"How would I know?" Danny said.

"You're part of a hive mind now. Presumably that's how you found Clara. Just look," the Time Lord ordered.

"I can't see much," Danny stiffly shook his head.

"Look _harder_."

Danny looked at his girlfriend. "Clara, watch this. This is who the _Doctor_ is. Watch the blood-soaked old general in action. I can't see properly, sir, because this needs activating. If you want to know what's coming, you have to switch it on."

The Doctor stared at the breastplate desperately.

"And didn't all of those beautiful speeches just disappear in the face of a tactical advantage?" Danny scoffed. "_Sir_."

The Doctor took a few steps back, visibly struggling with his conscience. "I need to know. I need to know!"

"Yes," said Danny scathingly. "Yes, you do."

"_Enough_. It's not fair to you, Danny, Clara," Red stated. "It's not fair that Danny died so young. It's not fair that Clara lost the man she loves. Then again, it's not fair that innocent people were killed by Danny when he was a soldier. Or that the entire Earth is being taken over by the Doctor's insane wife. But that's life - it's never _fair_. We can stand here all day and point fingers, or we can stop Missy. The fact is, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

"I said no _Star Trek_ references!" the Doctor spat angrily.

"Give me the screwdriver," said Clara suddenly.

The Doctor looked at her, aghast. "No."

"The Red Lady's right - we have to save the world. If you won't, I will. Pain, love...they matter anymore. Because Danny is dead."

Everyone stared at Clara.

"Just do it, Doctor," murmured Clara. "Do as you are told."

The Doctor looked from her, to Danny, to the Red Lady. His shoulders untensed in defeat, and he handed Clara the sonic screwdriver, then moved away to give the two some privacy. Red moved beside him.

Clara stepped in front of Danny, sniffling. "Just point and think, yeah?"

"Yes," the Doctor answered gravely.

"Okay." Clara looked at Danny, her brown eyes welling up with tears. "I wasn't very good at it," she said. "But I did love you."

"I love you too," Danny said.

"I'm never going to say that again."

Danny laughed humorlessly. "Me neither."

Clara reluctantly pointed the screwdriver at the Cyberman. "Ready?"

"Yeah."

Clara broke down, her voice wobbling. "I feel like I'm killing you," she whimpered.

"It's like you said: I'm already dead." Danny smiled a little. "You're here this time at least."

Clara stared at him mournfully. "Goodbye, Danny."

"Goodbye, Clara."

Clara clenched her eyes shut and pressed the button. Danny's smile faded, and his body stiffened, staring straight ahead blankly. Clara dropped her arm and rushed to embrace him.

"Clara, no, step away! He's activating!" the Doctor shouted, hurrying toward them. "Clara, step away now! Don't-" The Doctor grabbed Clara's shoulder as the English teacher clung to the Cyberman. "Danny," said the Doctor, looking at the Cyberman. "Danny, if you can hear me, if you're still there, what are the clouds going to do?"

"The rain will fall again," said Danny in a flat, dull voice. "All humanity will die."

"And rise again as Cybermen," Red stated.

"Correct."

"How do we stop it?" the Doctor interrogated.

"We cannot be stopped."

Suddenly, the wind picked up, and with flash of purple light, Missy appeared, dropping from midair onto the ground, using her umbrella as a drag chute.

Red rolled her eyes. "We get it - you're Mary Poppins."

"Can't beat the classics, dearie," Missy said with a saucy wink. Then she looked back at Clara, still holding onto Danny. "Oh, that was _brilliant_! Oh, I love the telly here, but did you see _that_? Oh, Clara, you poor thing. You must feel like death. Let me pop away the pain." Missy pulled out her device.

Red instinctively leapt in front of Clara and Danny, throwing up a force field to deflect the shot. The Doctor snatched the device from Missy's hands, tossing it some feet away from the mad woman. "Don't you dare! Don't you think about it!" he hissed.

"Oh, sorry, hon, I'm just getting a bit carried away. It's your friends, they're so moorish. Hmm?" Missy giggled flirtatiously at the Doctor. "Oh, stop looking all cross-pants. I'm here to give you a gift. Could you at least try and be excited?"

"What gift?"

With a little, knowing smirk, Missy raised her wrist and spoke into her bracelet. "Cyberdears! Look at Mummy!"

Every Cyberman in the graveyard turned on the spot to face the Master. "Raise your arms..."

The Cybermen obediently raised their arms.

"Lower your arms."

The Cybermen lowered their arms.

"Raise your right...lower your right. Turn on the spot. There are exits at the front and rear of the aircraft. Please follow the lights up the aisle."

The Cybermen perfectly performed every order Missy gave them. "You see, Doctor?" said Missy. "The power to slaughter whole worlds at a time, then make them do a safety briefing. Everyone who ever lived, man, woman and child, is now at my command. An indestructible army to rage across the universe. The more they kill, the more they recruit." Missy's serious gaze turned into a sweet smile. "Happy birthday."

The Doctor's eyebrows (as well as Red's and Clara's) shot up in surprise.

"Oh! You didn't know, did you? It's lucky one of us remembers these things. Happy birthday..." Missy took the Doctor's hand and put the bracelet around his wrist as she tenderly sang, a la Marilyn Monroe performing for John F. Kennedy, "..._Mister President_."

Even Red had to bite back a smile at that.

Missy stepped back and curtseyed. The Cybermen, as a unit, stomped their feet in salute. "_Doctor_," they croaked, bowing their heads to him.

"Tiny bit pleased?" Missy said. The Doctor glared at her, and the Master scoffed in annoyance. "Oh, go on, crack a smile. I want to see if your eyebrows drop off." She snickered.

"All of this...all of it...just to give me an army?"

"Well, I don't need one, do I?" said Missy. "Armies are for people who think they're right. And nobody thinks they're righter than you." The Doctor made to take the bracelet off, and the Master grabbed his wrist, stopping him. "Give a good man firepower, and he'll never run out of people to kill."

"I don't want an army!" the Doctor roared.

"Well, that's the trouble!" Missy shouted back. "Yes, you do! You've always wanted one! All those people suffering in the Dalek camps? Now you can save them. All those bad guys winning all the wars? Go and get the good guys back!"

"Nobody can have that power."

"You will, because you don't have a choice!" Missy snapped. "There's only _one_ way you can stop these clouds from opening up and killing all your little pets down here. Conquer the universe, Mister President!" Missy dropped her knees, as if kowtowing to the Doctor's mighty power. "Show a bad girl how it's done."

"Why are you doing this?!" the Doctor cried in frustration as he ripped the bracelet off.

"Because you forgot me!" Missy yelped, her blue eyes welling up with tears. "You forgot everything, the good, the bad, _everything_ we had!"

"And _this_ is how you decided to show me?!"

"I had to start from the beginning. Our history is what made us who we were. You may have always wanted peace, and I may have always wanted to make trouble, but deep down you and I are not so different," said Missy desperately. "I need my friend back...I need my _husband_ back."

"I remember," said the Doctor. "The Red Lady showed me. I remember everything. But that doesn't change anything - you're a killer!"

"You heard what the Red Lady said, Doctor - the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. I'm giving you a chance to save the many. Every battle, every war, every invasion. From now on, you decide the outcome. What's the matter, Mister President? Don't you trust yourself?

The Doctor stared off into the distance blankly. Then he looked back at Missy. "Thank you." He knelt down on the ground before her. "Thank you so much." He gently kissed Missy. "I really didn't know. I wasn't sure. You lose sight sometimes. Thank you! I am _not_ a good man! I am not a bad man. I am not a hero. And I'm definitely not a president. And no, I'm not an officer. Do you know what I am? I...am...an idiot! With a box and a screwdriver. Just passing through, helping out, learning. I don't need an army. I never have, because I've got them. Always them." The Doctor looked at the Red Lady, and Danny and Clara. "Because love, it's not an emotion. Love is a promise."

Danny put his arm around Clara. Red looked at them and smiled wistfully.

"And _he_ will _never_ hurt her," the Doctor declared. "P.E., catch!" He tossed the control bracelet to the Cyberman. The Doctor smiled at Missy. "You didn't notice, did you? While you were doing all your silly orders, while you were showing off, the one soldier not obeying."

Missy was confused. "No, that's wrong. That's impossible."

Danny marched up to Missy. "The rain will not fall," he declared.

"Oh? Why won't it?"

"The clouds will burn."

"And who'll burn them?" Missy asked.

"I will burn them."

"How?"

"I will burn," Danny declared.

Missy frowned, connecting the dots. "Oh no..."

Danny did an about face and turned to the other Cybers. "Attention!" he shouted to his troops. "This is not a good day. This is Earth's darkest hour. And look at you miserable lot. We are the fallen. _We_ are the few. But today, we shall rise. The army of the dead will save the land of the living...we shall save the many. This is not the order of a general, nor the whim of a lunatic-"

"Excuse me?" Missy said, raising an eyebrow.

"This is a promise. The promise of a soldier!" Danny looked at Clara. "You will sleep safe tonight," he told her. Then he looked at the Red Lady. "Thank you."

Red nodded. "Thank _you_, for your service."

The Cybersoldier took off for the skies, his army following him. They flew into the clouds and their metal bodies exploded, burning away the clouds in a brilliant display. The sun shone down on the land once again.

"Well..." said Clara, staring at the sky. "The clouds have all gone."

"Yes, burned up. Totally burnt. Burnt to nothing. Sorry," the Doctor said.

Red touched Clara's shoulder tentatively. "Clara?" she said softly.

Clara looked at her. "You were right. Life is _really_ not fair."

Red nodded. "I am sorry."

"I know."

"Ten zero eleven, zero zero by zero two."

The Doctor whipped around to look at Missy. "What did you say?" he whispered.

"The current coordinates of Gallifrey. It's returned to its original location. Didn't you ever think to look?" Missy said.

"You are lying!" the Doctor accused.

"We can go together, just you and me," Missy beseeched. "Just like the old days."

"You'd be clapped in irons," said the Doctor in disbelief.

"If you like," said Missy in defeat.

"Doctor, I'm assuming you'll remember those coordinates?" Clara had pulled out Missy's device from the pocket of Red's jacket, which she was still wearing, and pointed it at Missy.

"Clara, no!" said Red, making to grab her arm.

"_Don't_-!" Clara jerked away. "...try to stop me, or I swear to God the next person I shoot will be you, Red Lady."

"Clara, I won't let you," said the Doctor, approaching her.

Clara glared at the Doctor. "She's your _wife_? You married this monster?"

"She was your friend once, Clara," said the Red Lady. "You don't remember, but she was. Our minds were wiped-"

"_I don't care!_" shouted Clara.

"I know you're angry," Red said. "You have every right to be. She's done awful things today. But, listen to me: _Missy did not kill Danny_."

Clara swallowed. "It doesn't matter."

"Clara, if you kill her in cold blood, you're no better that her-"

"Oh shut _up_!" Clara exclaimed, her eyes tearing up again. "I don't care if she used to be good, I don't _care_ if she was once my friend. If the two of you have ever let this creature live, everything that happened today, is on you. All of it, on _you_." Clara prepared to shoot Missy down. "And you're not going to let her live again."

"Clara, we're not letting you kill her," said the Doctor. "Red Lady, cover her."

"Already on it," said Red, standing next to Missy.

Clara looked at the Doctor. "Then what will you do with her? Let her go?"

"No," said the Doctor. "I'm going to bring her back to the TARDIS, where I can keep an eye on her."

"Oh. I see," said Clara. "So you and the Master, living together in your TARDIS with your white picket fence. Wedded bliss. A happy little family."

"It's not like that-"

"Isn't it." Clara glared at him.

"Clara, don't make yourself a murderer!" Red said.

"Why not?! All of you are! I might as well join the gang!"

Red's face fell, and she looked down at the ground.

The Doctor looked at Missy. "You see this? This is all your fault."

Missy looked away, trying to appear nonchalant.

The Doctor turned back to his companion. "Clara...is this would Danny Pink would've wanted of you?"

Clara's eyes narrowed, then after a moment, she slowly untensed. She held out the weapon for the Doctor.

The Doctor gently took it from her. "Thank you," he whispered.

Clara glared at him. "You better be able to fix her. Turn her back to the way she was."

"I promise."


	25. Red Of Steel

**This is a short little crossover with the TV show _Supergirl_. YES, Codpiece is a real DC villain. When I discovered him, I knew I had to use him.**

**I came up with this story idea before season two, so I had mixed feelings about publishing it, because A) I don't care for Mon-El and I hate that Kara and James's love story was retconned for the sake of this slave owning frat boy, and B) I did NOT approve of the cast's blatant mocking of Supercorp shippers at SDCC 2017. I'm a Karolsen shipper to the very end, but Kara/Lena shippers did not deserve that kind of abuse.**

**But, to quote another show I now detest, "it is what it is". So read, laugh, enjoy. (I apologize ahead of time for all the dick jokes.)**

* * *

Red had materialized in the wrong place. Again.

Specifically, she had materialized in a completely new universe, which had immediately drained her of energy. Her eyes fluttered shut and her body went completely limp...

And she began to freefall to the earth.

Because the Red Lady had materialized in the middle of the sky, 1000 feet above a busy city. And her body was speeding right for the hard pavement below.

But luckily, someone was there to catch her. "Whoaaaaaaa!"

Red's body was swept up out of midair by strong arms. Red blinked her eyes open, her mind fuzzy. She squinted upward. The sun was obscured by flowing golden hair.

"Hold on. We'll be on the ground in a minute."

Red moaned something inherent then blacked out again.

The next thing she knew, she was waking up on a park bench.

"Are you okay?" A woman with long blonde hair tumbling down her shoulders in thick barrel curls was sitting on the edge of the bench beside her. Her eyes were the bluest blue, bluer than the sky in October.

"Uhhhhhh." Red blushed brightly. "Yeah, I'm...fine. I think. Did I die? Are you an angel?...I'm not trying to pick you up, honest, I'm genuinely confused."

"No, you're not dead," said the woman, laughing shyly, her cheeks turning pink. "But you were falling out of the sky. Did you fall from a plane or something?"

"Err...not exactly." Red must have made a miscalculation and ripped a hole through the multiverse. Again. She really needed to stop doing that. What universe was she in now, the Red Lady wondered.

She was about to find out.

"Well, you're safe now," said the blonde woman, standing up. "I'm sorry, I'd stay and chat, but I probably should be on the lookout for more people who need help. Goodbye!"

She turned and took a few steps away, and Red realized, her senses finally coming back to her, that the mysterious savior was wearing a long red cape and boots. Red blinked rapidly and struggled off the bench. "Wait-"

"No need to thank me. Just doing my job." The woman leapt into the air - and took flight.

Red was blown back by the sonic blast her speed generated. Red clambered to her feet and raced out of the trees onto the sidewalk adjacent to the street. To the Red Lady's amazement, the woman was soaring through the sky - with no wings or jet pack or anything at all, as if Earth's gravity didn't affect her. Her cape and boots were part of a uniform, consisting also of a dress with a red skirt and blue top, with a red and yellow emblem on her chest - a stylized "S" inside a pentagon.

"Oh my God," the Red Lady breathed in awe. "It's _Supergirl_!"

* * *

"I don't believe it," Red babbled to herself, walking along the sidewalk through National City, still reeling. "_Supergirl_ saved my life. _The_ Supergirl! She's only been my hero and role model since I was old enough to read comic books! I actually met Supergirl...and she's _really_ hot."

Red sighed. "Well...it'll be 24 hours till I can cross universes again. So much has been going on lately. I might as well give myself a nice rest-"

Her musing were cut off by the sounds of screams. "Never off the clock," Red sighed. Her head whipped around. The buildings and streets were being overtaken by a layer of ice. "Alright, the Iceman!" said Red. "Love a good Batman villain...well...a semi-notable Batman villain, anyway."

"_That's right, good citizens!_" cried a male voice over a megaphone, among the screaming. Several frightened citizens ran away in horror. "_Flee in fear from...CODPIECE!_"

"Wait. Who?" said Red.

A short-ish man in a red and blue suit emerged from the din, marching down the middle of the street triumphantly. Another blast of ice from the man covered a tree. He laughed maniacally into his megaphone. "_YES! The city belongs to Codpiece!_"

The Red Lady burst into raucous bouts of laughter. "What the hell is that?!"

"Codpiece", as he was calling himself, turned to look in the direction of the laughter. "Another woman, ridiculing me," he growled.

"Well, who wouldn't?!" said Red, still laughing hysterically. "You've got a giant cannon sitting on your groin!"

It was true. The feature was attached at his crotch like...well, a codpiece. The weapon was incredibly phallic in nature, making him look like he had an enormous metal erection.

Red was nearly crying now from laughter. "I'm-I'm-hold on," she choked, gasping for air. "Okay...okay...I'm assuming you designed your own costume. Did you stop to consider _maybe_ the potential embarrassing design flaw in your suit?"

"My suit is perfect!" said Codpiece, assuming a formidable stance, which involved the pushing forward of his...weapon.

"Oh God, don't thrust it like that," giggled Red.

"I am Codpiece! Fear me!"

"You're wank material for robot fetishists into gunplay," Red snorted.

"You try my mercy, woman!"

Red rolled her eyes. "Alright, you don't have to be so hard on me...get it? _Hard on_? Because your-no? Okay, let's just fight." She flashed her palms at him, meaning to shoot a fireball - but she'd forgotten. Her power was drained. Red blanched, staring at her inactive hands. "Wuh-oh...HUH!"

Red was thrown backward by a blast from Codpiece's canon. The pavement scraped her arms and left bright red, stinging patches of road rash on them. "Oww," Red hissed with her teeth clenched.

"Do you see what happens when you undermine me?" Codpiece proclaimed as Red hobbled to her feet. "You and all of National City will feel my icy wrath. All man and womankind will kowtow under my white showers."

"Aaaand the double entendres keep on coming. Wait, not coming! I mean...oh, screw it." Red grabbed two things: a plastic trash can lid, and a piece of rubble - part of an 4x4 that'd been part of a building, and ran at Codpiece. Codpiece shot another load (oh my God) of ice at Red, but she deflected the blast with her trash can lid, using it as a makeshift shield. Codpiece eventually ran out of liquid nitrogen and needed to reload, and the blast relented. Red raced up to him and pushing all her weight at him, knocked Codpiece on his back, and jammed the piece of lumber into the wide end of Codpiece's weapon.

"You foolish girl. You cannot keep my essence plugged back," sneered Codpiece.

Red groaned. "_Dude. Seriously._ You need to listen to yourself sometime."

Now with a fresh supply of liquid nitro, Codpiece activated his canon. But it was stopped up by the piece of rubble, and the freeze blast was backed up. "No!" Codpiece exclaimed, his eyes widened.

"Oh yes," smirked Red. "You know what happened when metal gets too cold, right?" She took ahold of the canon. "Now, with just the right twist of the wrist..." Red yanked on the canon, and it broke off in her hand, and crumbled into useless shards of metal. "I can make a guy explode."

"_Noooooooo_!" The groin area of Codpiece's suit fractured into a hundred pieces and flew off in scattered directions. "Uhhh..." groaned Codpiece, his hips gyrating.

"Oh my God," Red said, covering her face with her hand in second-hand embarrassment. "You might be the dumbass-est villain I've ever fought. And I've fought butt plug shaped roller aliens armed only with a plunger and a kitchen whisk."

"Help me!" gasped Codpiece. "The system is overloading! This suit is going to overheat!"

"I'll take it from here," said another voice.

Red looked over her shoulder to see Supergirl lighting on the ground a few feet behind her. Supergirl walked up to the guy, picked him up with one hand, and peeled the metal suit off of him with the other, as easily as one might peel a banana. Supergirl flung the suit several yards away, where it popped and ignited into flame harmlessly.

"I feel like there's a dirty joke to make in all this...but I'm too punned out to do it," said Red.

Supergirl looked at her. "Hey, you're that girl I saved from falling earlier."

"Yeah," said Red, shrugging. "Hey, I don't usually faint, but when I'm in the presence of such a beautiful woman, I can't just help myself." She winked.

Supergirl's cheeks turned red. "Oh! Uh...well, thank you, for stopping this guy. There was so much chaos in the city, I couldn't get here fast enough."

"Believe me, it was my pleasure," said Red. "It's nice to know I can fight a bad guy without my abilities. Even if it's just a ranty misogynist with a giant penis gun." Smirking, Red walked around to look Codpiece in the eye. "Not the cock of the walk anymore, are ya, sweet cheeks?"

Codpiece grumbled. "_Women_."

* * *

"Wow, so you're a superhero too!" said Kara later as she and Red were hanging out at Kara's apartment.

"Ah, ah, ah," Red said quickly. "I'm not super. Just...enhanced."

Kara rolled her eyes. "Anyone who can shoot fireballs with their hands is definitely super."

Red smiled reluctantly. "Maybe. But your powers are so cool! You can fly! I've always wished I could fly."

Kara grinned cockily. "Flying is pretty cool. Although teleportation would be a lot faster. Plus, less getting mistaken for birds and planes."

"Okay, fine, I'm 'super'," Red conceded. "But a hero? Definitely not."

"But all the people you've helped," Kara argued. "The bad guys you've stopped? You sound like a hero to me, Red Lady. You've even got your own superhero name!"

Red shook her head. "I've done bad things too, Kara. I'm just trying to make up for them."

"Well...for what it's worth." Kara leaned over and squeezed Red's shoulder. "I think you're a hero."

Red smiled shyly. "You have no idea what that means coming from you."

The next morning (Kara had let Red sleep over at her apartment, since Red's powers were still out and she had nowhere to go), Red came out into the kitchen area, her hair damp. "Man, I can't remember when I've had a shower with water pressure that good - oh, hello."

Kara was standing at the island with a coffee cup in her hand. Another woman, tall, slender, with brown eyes and chin length brown hair was with her.

"Red, come in!" said Kara eagerly. "I was just telling my sister Alex about our fight with Codpiece yesterday. She works for the DEO. They deal with aliens and stuff. Red's super too."

"I do alright," said Red modestly. "Had to fight Crazy Dick with nothin' but my wits and a trash can lid."

"You have superpowers?" said Alex Danvers, raising an eyebrow. "Is she dangerous?"

"Only to the bad guys," said Red cheekily.

"You're not from this universe, right?" said Alex. "And you'll be leaving?"

Red laughed. "Eager to get rid of me, eh, Agent? Don't worry, I was just going. I think one overly powered entity is enough for one universe. Nice teamup though, Kara. Maybe we can work together again some time." Red prepared to flash out. "Goodbye, Supergirl. Alex, say hi to Maggie for me."

"Who's Maggie?" said Alex confusedly, but the Red Lady was already gone.


End file.
